Official Review: Success! by Anne Elizabeth Nixon

[gen_g]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Success!" by Anne Elizabeth Nixon.]

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1 out of 4 stars

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Anne Elizabeth Nixon’s Success! is a short how-to guide about achieving success in a multitude of occupations (e.g., carpenter, commercial pilot, furniture restorer, et cetera), and this guide is based on Nixon’s own experiences in said jobs. At only 68 pages long, Success! is a very short read, and it can certainly be finished in a single sitting.

Unfortunately, I did not enjoy reading this book. There are a couple of major flaws which led to this rating, and regrettably, said flaws have overshadowed any positive point Success! might have possessed. Before proceeding to explain these negatives, I will first rate Nixon’s Success! 1 out of 4 stars.

Firstly, as mentioned, Nixon’s book is a very short read. In other words, Nixon has prioritised breadth at the expense of depth. To better illustrate, out of the 23 chapters that make up the book, 18 detail her various job experiences (one occupation per chapter, with each chapter being 3-4 pages long). Moreover, Nixon has mistaken retellings of her experiences as job advice. Hence, in each chapter, there is very little real advice to be found. For example, in her chapter regarding piloting, she has lamentably only given a sentence of advice for those seeking a commercial pilot license: to rack up hours and experience as a trainer. However, she does not include advice as to how to become a trainer in the first place. Consequently, Success! becomes more like a very brief memoir rather than a how-to guide to occupational success.

Other than the lack of detail, it is also lamentable that the advice given is not in line with the current time period. This is perhaps due to Nixon’s pursuit of specificity: while endeavouring to provide as much context as possible to allow her reader to be able to take on any job that she has written about, her advice inevitably becomes solely based on her own experience, which seems to have happened quite a long time ago. Hence, it is not only disappointingly obsolete, but also extremely limiting. Times have changed vastly, and with globalisation already happening, things have also become much too complicated to be solved with a simple Google search (which she uses as one of her general solutions to problems).

Next, Nixon’s writing is inconsistent at times, resulting in conflicting ideas and general confusion. For example, Nixon states “(not to) spend years studying a subject that has no future”, but simultaneously, she also says “once you find your niche(,) you can study anything you’re interested in simply for fun”. This is oxymoronic, because what if one likes a subject that “has no future”? Passion and responsibility can be mutually exclusive, so what happens then?

Finally, the copy of Success! that I received has not been prepared for professional publication, as there are many grammar and layout errors, such as inconsistent tense usage and irregular font sizes. There is also a high tendency to bold many phrases for emphasis. All of these errors detract from reading comprehension, clarity, and flow, which is such a pity! The book seems to be haphazardly put together, and when this is coupled with the obsolete and inconsistent advice present, the need for Nixon to go through her work with the help of an editor to iron out all of these serious issues becomes of utmost importance. Hence, I am unable to recommend Success! in its current form to anyone. Once edited, it would definitely be a decent but brief guide for those seeking some general advice regarding choosing one's career path in America.

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Success!
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[AntonelaMaria]

Thank you for the honest review. You made excellent points. I hope your next read is better.

[Aniza Butt]

Sad to hear that the book didn't make it to your expectations. It a real pain reading such books with a lot of errors. Good luck for your next book.
Thanks for the review.

[Wyland]

From the review, it appears the success spoken of is that of the author rather than the intended audience. This may then be better classified as a memoir. Thanks for the informative review.

[InStoree]

I hope the author will consider your advice. Success is an attractive topic and considering her work experiences, I think she could bring to light a more fruitful version of this book. Thank you for your objective point of view. It helped me decide to skip this book, for now.

[gen_g]

Thank you for the honest review. You made excellent points. I hope your next read is better.

I hope that the author will flesh out her book more, and I'm sure it'll be much better then. Thank you for stopping by, I appreciate it!

[gen_g]

Sad to hear that the book didn't make it to your expectations. It a real pain reading such books with a lot of errors. Good luck for your next book.
Thanks for the review.

Oh, the errors were definitely distracting. Thank you for stopping by nonetheless!

[gen_g]

From the review, it appears the success spoken of is that of the author rather than the intended audience. This may then be better classified as a memoir. Thanks for the informative review.

Oh, I agree that there is a tinge of that present. It could be classified as a memoir, but it is also too touch-and-go to fit into the genre of the memoir, where introspection and self-reflection are key. Thanks for stopping by!

[gen_g]

I hope the author will consider your advice. Success is an attractive topic and considering her work experiences, I think she could bring to light a more fruitful version of this book. Thank you for your objective point of view. It helped me decide to skip this book, for now.

I believe that the author definitely has a wealth of experience that a lot of people can tap on, but sadly, it didn't translate well onto paper. I too hope that this wealth will hopefully be seen in the edited version. Thanks for stopping by!

[Nizar Ali Shah]

Anne Elizabeth Nixon's success! is a very short read and it aims that how to achieve success in a diverse or multiple occupations.He stresses the need of a
trainers but her she does not explain that how to be a trainer.She has experience in different occupations but she has not been able to explain it in an organised way if i am not wrong.She got the experience long time ago but that experience may not fulfill the requirements of the present times.As a result of globalization things and requirements have changed.There is always inconsistency in her opinion in her brief read.The brief read looks like a collection of her memoirs rather than a guidance for training.Despite the we have to admit that the read is a general advice related to careers and occupations and people can find it useful as a general reader

[KDJ]

Thank you for your review of Success! Hopefully, another more edited version that expands on up-to-date and informative advice will be available someday. Having the author's life experience and advice was a good idea for the book. Thank you again for your review.

[Erin Painter Baker]

It seems odd that this is in the young adult fiction section. Hopefully, this was a really early draft and the author and editor are able to take your comments into account. This definitely sounds more like a memoir than a self-help or how-to book, given that the book only talks about the author's specific jobs and experiences within those jobs, without giving actual advice on how to be successful at any of them.

[gen_g]

Thank you for your review of Success! Hopefully, another more edited version that expands on up-to-date and informative advice will be available someday. Having the author's life experience and advice was a good idea for the book. Thank you again for your review.

I hope so too, since the author does seem to have a lot of experience which will be helpful if harnessed properly. Thank you for stopping by!

[gen_g]

It seems odd that this is in the young adult fiction section. Hopefully, this was a really early draft and the author and editor are able to take your comments into account. This definitely sounds more like a memoir than a self-help or how-to book, given that the book only talks about the author's specific jobs and experiences within those jobs, without giving actual advice on how to be successful at any of them.

Hopefully, there will be an editing overhaul, since there are still some really good bits of wisdom here and there. Some polishing would definitely help! Thank you for stopping by. (:

[Prisallen]

It sounds as though the author should write a memoir instead of a how-to book and get it professionally edited before publishing it. Thanks for a great review, though!