Rising Strong is a New York Times #1 Bestseller and has received rave reviews.  This is a great subject and one with almost universal appeal, since falling is a regular part of life.  There were thought-provoking anecdotes in the book, many quotable parts, and several nuggets of wisdom.  Most readers will take away something of value.  However, I felt the author did not deliver on what she promised in the introduction: to slow down what happens in the process from the moment someone finds himself face-down in the arena to when they rise.  She said she would show it in slow motion, and I didn’t feel that was ever accomplished.  Upon completing the book, I felt like I had some tangential take-aways, but I didn’t learn anything new about what it takes and how people do it.  The illustrations in the books didn’t feel like face-down in the arena moments, but rather normal events in life and some personal epiphanies.  Perhaps that was what she was trying to achieve, but it didn’t meet the expectation laid out in the introduction.

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  16 religious exclamations; 13 mild obscenities; 45 scatological words; 13 anatomical terms.

Violence/Gore:  Reference to a character being shot on a TV episode; reference/report that a family members was shot and killed.

Sex/Nudity:  Reference to “rock the speedo”; report that someone’ wife had an affair.

Mature Subject Matter:

Racism/discrimination, economic disparity.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

Reference to adults smoking and drinking; reference to an alcoholic family member.