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Liked It “Really encouraging for those who are interested in anything and everything but a bit panicked about their careers. How can a true generalist fit into a specializing society? Sher has a lot of enthusiastic and creative ideas about it. Yes, she can be cutesy and she sometimes uses double...” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It “I should have known better than to pick up this book. If there's one thing I can't stand in a self-help book, it's a relentlessly cheerful writer who categorizes and labels people into different, pat little groups so she can give you lots of standardized remedies. |
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“This book isn't for everyone, but it was perfect for me. I realized after reading the first few pages that I am a "Scanner"; a term coined by the author to describe people who jump from interest to interest and topic to topic, always wanting to learn more. I didn't read the book from cover to cover, but read through topics of interest and skimmed others. If you think you might be a Scanner, pick this book up and give it a go...you won't be disappointed. ”
Jon wrote this review Sunday, November 29 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Really encouraging for those who are interested in anything and everything but a bit panicked about their careers. How can a true generalist fit into a specializing society? Sher has a lot of enthusiastic and creative ideas about it. Yes, she can be cutesy and she sometimes uses double exclamation marks (shudder), but, at a time in my life where I really felt like my mind was a liability, Sher helped convince me it's actually an asset. ”
Joel B wrote this review Tuesday, January 1 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“I should have known better than to pick up this book. If there's one thing I can't stand in a self-help book, it's a relentlessly cheerful writer who categorizes and labels people into different, pat little groups so she can give you lots of standardized remedies.
bookdreamer wrote this review Monday, December 24 2007. ( reply | view 2 replies | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
In this book, the writer postulates that there are a group of people which she calls Scanners, who are so interested in so many things in life that they don't get things done, and feel like they're bad people because they don't want to choose one path in life. The first section of the book is devoted to explaining what Scanners are and how they think, and includes exercises for helping a Scanner feel better about him/herself. The second part further categorizes Scanners into different types (the Serial Scanner, the Double Agent, etc.) and suggest careers or jobs that can work for them.
All of this sounds like it would be helpful, but much of the advice is just common sense, almost all of the career advice is something that I have thought of before, and a lot of it even comes from her own readers via her website's bulletin board.
And frankly, I have to disagree with Ms. Sher in her thinking that it's okay to jump from thing to thing if that's what you want to do. There have been times in my life where I have started something, only to lose interest after a while, but if I pushed myself through that point of disinterest, I gained a much richer understanding and pleasure of the project.
She does have at least one good exercise in the book though, and that's why I'm giving it two stars. She encourages readers to keep a daybook, and write down all the crazy dreams and ideas that one might have. Then, instead of thinking that one has to *do* all those things, just keep the book as a memento of those ideas, in case one ever has the time to get to any of those things. In essence, dreaming up ideas and planning fantasies becomes the object in itself, which I think is a really great idea that takes the pressure off of someone who feels they have to do it all.
But most of the book is just stuff you can come up with yourself, and it certainly won't help me to organize my time, my life, or help me choose a career.”
“Thank goodness for people like Barbara Sher, who help keep people like me sane. See, all those things I love to do? Possible! Viable! Marketable! I came across this one PBS one day where she was talking about the book and went "AHA!!!" Thank heaven for such a wonderfully smart lady!”
Seletta R wrote this review Wednesday, November 28 2007. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
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