Genre: Non-Fiction
Description:
“Wondering how time flies?
Want to slow it down?
Live the Longest Year
of Your Life & Make Every Second Count!
With the latest
in brain science, discover how to stretch the good times and fast forward
through the bad ones. Understand how your brain perceives time, why it speeds
up, and how to make the most of it”
Author:
With the last 6 years spent researching Time Perception in the fields of
Neuroscience and Psychology, he is passionate about sharing what science has to
say about our experience of time and ways to make every second count.
When not writing, Jean Paul composes soundtrack music for film, does
research in astrophysics, and enjoys exploring the world.
A husband and father of two lovely daughters and a son, he currently
resides in Dubai where he is the CEO on a multi-billion construction project.”
For more, visit the author’s website.
jpzogby.com
Appraisal:
I admit to being somewhat non-plussed about how to review
this book. Not because of the book per-se, but because this is the first time
I’ve selected a non-fiction title from Al’s list. However, I am a can-do guy,
so here goes.
Why I selected the book: Clearly the title is attractive,
probably to everyone, but even more so to me, a person riding out the last few
innings of life. Of course I’d like to slow down my inevitable demise.
Did the book deliver on the powerful promise in the title:
I’d have to say no. I did acquire an interesting way at looking at time through
the lens of our perception rather than as a series of fixed increments measured
on a clock face. But the concise message of the title was rarely the focus of
the chapters in this book. The author wandered and deviated across a wide range
of Neuroscience with a heavy smattering of pop-psychology.
On the positive side, the author did include supporting
examples, which broke up the narrative, but unfortunately, there were many
instances where three or four studies were detailed back-to-back with the same
conclusions and with little or no new insights. This did get wearing at times.
I feel confident in summarizing the book as follows: When
we are engaged in enjoyable activities, time appears to go quickly. When we are
stuck in unpleasant situations, time seems to drag. So, to make life seem
longer, we should be very “mindful” when involved in pleasant activities, and
use dead time to focus on more interesting activities. Disciplining ourselves
in this manner we will “appear” to live an extended life. For this reader, this
revelation didn’t fulfil the promise of the title.
Format/Typo
Issues:
The number of typos exceeded the standard set by Al. These
didn’t cause any misunderstandings, but they were irritating.
Rating: *** Three Stars
Reviewed
by:
Pete Barber
Approximate
word count:
80-85,000 words
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