Publisher's Weekly Review
Buddha preached the "Middle Way," advising individuals to avoid the extremes of behavior and thought: if one engages with tolerance and moderation, one will find enlightenment. Marinoff, a "philosophical counselor" and Buddhist practitioner, teaches that the "ABCs" of Aristotle, Buddha and Confucius can pave the way not just to happiness but to finding balance in an increasingly globalized world. The book starts strong, with five chapters relating these ABCs to the individual. But the second part, which extends the conceit to dealing with drugs, poverty, terrorism and other global problems, is less successful. Marinoff's inclination toward rant over reason may polarize readers rather than driving them toward the prescribed balance and thoughtfulness. For example, he writes, "Whenever some inane American billboard or subway advertisement asks me, `Is your child on drugs?' I sometimes think, `I sure as hell hope so.' Good drugs may be his best chance of getting off all the bad drugs... the Ritalin... the televangelism... and the Starbucks coffee." Though Marinoff says, "I too have finally been driven to an extreme-the extreme center. It's peaceful here, and quiet," his book is anything but quiet. Readers may wish for more solutions, indeed more of the Middle Way. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Library Journal Review
Best-selling author Marinoff (philosophy, CUNY; Plato, Not Prozac) thinks the world is in a bad hole, that extremists dug it, and that attention to the philosophers of moderation-principally, Aristotle, Gautama Buddha, and Confucius-will help. Aristotle sought a life of sturdy citizenship governed by reason and scientific inquiry, the Buddha found his truth in the inner light and a gradual overcoming of desire, and Confucius taught a balanced obedience to family and state. Marinoff concedes "a conflict if not a clash" between Aristotelian and Confucian virtues, and certainly, there are extremes: Buddha took a revolutionary position against the Indian caste system, Aristotle believed in the notion of "natural slaves," and Confucius was an unwavering defender of the Chinese imperial system. Marinoff has many insights when he applies his ideas, though he downplays the idea of a "rational Islam," and his alarm at the increasing Muslim population in Europe is troubling. His well-formed arguments against, e.g., the maldistribution of wealth, rogue corporations, and neocolonialists, suggest a Rawlsian social equilibrium. Marinoff's book will attract readers in any library; Derek Heater's World Citizenship and Government: Cosmopolitan Ideas in the History of Western Political Thought would be a good supplement.-Leslie Armour, Dominican Univ. Coll., Ottawa (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
