Official Review: Life For Rent by Oliver Burkey

[GKCfan]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Life For Rent" by Oliver Burkey.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Official Review: Life for Rent, by Oliver Burkey.

Oliver Burkey’s Life for Rent is a self-help book, meant to assist people who are in a negative place mentally. Early in the book, defeatist mentalities, self-anger, and other attitudes are criticized, and Burkey promises that his book can help people solve their problems.

Life for Rent is self-described as a “Comprehensive Book of Life Changing Practical Techniques & Activities.” Given its brevity– less than thirty pages– it seems that “comprehensive” is hardly the right word for it. Indeed, this work can more accurately be described as a lengthy pamphlet rather than a full-fledged book.

Much of the book is composed of a collection of advice regarding positive thinking and ways to break free of destructive mental processes and escape the cycle of bad habits. Mantras, imagination, structured plans for behavior modification, and other tips are included, along with steps to achieve one’s self-improvement goals. Other approaches to dealing with serious problems are dismissed. Willpower, for example, is bluntly described as ineffective, though there are many experts who might disagree with that perspective.

Burkey refers to dark passages in his old life, so it seems probable that Burkey has tried many of these tactics himself to heal his own wounds. There are several brief glimpses into Burkey’s personal life, including childrearing, and it seems clear that Burkey has gone through some personal struggles and is using what he has learned from his own battles to assist other people.

One of the problems with the book is that it addresses attitude problems as opposed to mental illness. There are many cases where no amount of positive thinking can fix a problem, and professional psychiatric care is necessary in order to help people with very serious issues.

Another issue with the book is that the advice is not wholly original– if one is familiar with self-help books and websites, one will recognize much of the advice from elsewhere. This is definitely not meant to accuse the author of plagiarism, but it is intended to note that certain self-help tips are commonly used and are fairly popular.

This review is meant as an appreciation for the inspirational tone in the prose, along with the good intentions and clear desire to help people in dark places. Not having used the program and advice in the book personally, this review should in no way be considered an endorsement of the effectiveness of the book’s advice, but rather as an appreciation of the book’s prose.

All in all, this book receives a positive review because it is written in an interesting style, and it also has the potential to help someone.

I give this book three out of four stars.

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Life For Rent
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[bookowlie]

I enjoyed reading your insightful review. I like that you pointed out that much of the advice contains commonly used tips that are in other self-help books and websites.

[GKCfan]

Thank you!