- Paperback: 224 pages
- Publisher: Harper Perennial; Reprint edition (Sep 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 006073731X
- ISBN-13: 978-0060737313
- Product Dimensions: 19.9 x 13.5 x 1.3 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,283,494 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
| ||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
YOU CAN TELL A LOT about a person by his nick, right? Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
YOU CAN TELL A LOT about a person by his nick, right? Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Reviews
There are no customer reviews yet on Amazon.co.uk.
5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
40 reviews
34 of 35 people found the following review helpful
Insight at the end of life
16 Sep 2003
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Peter Barton was my son-in-law and continually surprised me by always seeing the "big" picture while I (like most of us) wallowed in the details of life. He wrote it with Laurence Shames after learning of an impending, untimely death.
He was an extraodinarily creative person, always able to see the context of every situation. Life rewarded him well financially but, most of all, with an uncanny sense of where we fit in the course of our lives.
This book is filled with large-scale insights, many of which will be useful to each of us. Even knowing him, I found the book a worthwhile read. I personally grew from the "read," as I'm sure you will. It may reset your values as well as your expectations regarding living.
Laurence Shames is skillful not only with words but also with conveying ideas. His book reads very well.
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
A life-changing book
15 Sep 2003
Format:Hardcover
It's hard to describe the mixture of emotions that accompany reading this masterful book by Laurence Shames and Peter Barton. It was Barton's knowledge of his impending death that was the impetus for the book. Barely fifty, with young children, a happy marriage and tons of money, Barton chose to face his mortality through leaving a memoir. Shames became Barton's collaborator, co-author, interpreter and ultimately friend. There are moments of humor, heartbreaking sadness and revelation. It would be impossible to read this book without evaluating your own feelings toward life and death, family, friends, happiness and setting the right priorities for yourself. It's a brave and beautiful book that shouldn't be missed.
21 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Inspiring story
10 Sep 2003
Format:Hardcover
This book is about the life and death of Peter Barton, a very successful entreprenour who lived life fully, yet died early at the age of 51 from stomach cancer.
This story is told in alternative chapters by Barton and Laurence Shames, a writer who befriended Barton at the end of Barton's life in order to help him express his feelings and emotions about his impending death.
This small book contains very big ideas. Barton makes you understand how being wealthy doesn't automatically give you the best medical care, and it certainly doesn't protect you against death. He brings home in this very personal way how health and family are the things that are important, and that the end of life is a complicated, individual experience, full of reflection and introspection.
I thought that it was "gutsy" and generous of Barton to want to share his experiences with the world, and one gets the impression from the book that that is the kind of individual he was.
When you finish - you can do it easily in a few hours - you are left appreciative of the things that you normally take for granted, and can briefly try to comprehend the concept of living in the moment.
I say briefly because, alas, I think we are hardwired not to be able to live our lives the way Peter Barton did at the end of his life...living in the here and now and giving up the foolish pursuits that drive us daily. I think that is why books like this are important, so that we can read them and get back to what is important, and try to live our lives thinking about these issues and thus be "ready", when we face the end of our own lives.
Recommended, but I think I would have liked a little more information about Barton's illness and treatment although I understand that it was a conscious decision not to include that in the book.
This story is told in alternative chapters by Barton and Laurence Shames, a writer who befriended Barton at the end of Barton's life in order to help him express his feelings and emotions about his impending death.
This small book contains very big ideas. Barton makes you understand how being wealthy doesn't automatically give you the best medical care, and it certainly doesn't protect you against death. He brings home in this very personal way how health and family are the things that are important, and that the end of life is a complicated, individual experience, full of reflection and introspection.
I thought that it was "gutsy" and generous of Barton to want to share his experiences with the world, and one gets the impression from the book that that is the kind of individual he was.
When you finish - you can do it easily in a few hours - you are left appreciative of the things that you normally take for granted, and can briefly try to comprehend the concept of living in the moment.
I say briefly because, alas, I think we are hardwired not to be able to live our lives the way Peter Barton did at the end of his life...living in the here and now and giving up the foolish pursuits that drive us daily. I think that is why books like this are important, so that we can read them and get back to what is important, and try to live our lives thinking about these issues and thus be "ready", when we face the end of our own lives.
Recommended, but I think I would have liked a little more information about Barton's illness and treatment although I understand that it was a conscious decision not to include that in the book.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
