Daphne Gordon

With her essays on the theme of trauma, Sarah Polley hits work culture right in the body

BOOK REVIEW: Run Towards The Danger

by Sarah Polley

Let me start this rave review by stating that I’m far from unbiased as a book reviewer.

I don’t pick up books that don’t interest me. I don’t finish books I don’t like. I don’t write about books I wouldn’t recommend to a friend. So if I pen a book review, it’s automatically a four- or five-star treatment. And this one is no different.

Continue reading “With her essays on the theme of trauma, Sarah Polley hits work culture right in the body” →
The cover of Melinda Gates' book The Moment of Lift

Daphne Gordon

The Moment of Lift is more uplifting than I expected

Author and philanthropist Melinda Gates had to overcome my doubt about her relevance

I have to admit I didn’t have huge expectations of Melinda Gates’ book The Moment of Lift.

I couldn’t help noticing the book when it came out in April, 2019. I admire Gates for her philanthropic focus, and I was attracted to her book’s title and premise — that the world will be better off when women are lifted out of the low status afforded to them in many cultures around the world.

Continue reading “The Moment of Lift is more uplifting than I expected” →
Marissa Orr's book Lean Out rests on a table beside a ham sandwich

Daphne Gordon

Marissa Orr’s Lean Out helped me make sense of my own ambition

Did Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In make you want to cry out in despair? Me too. Marissa Orr’s Lean Out, on the other hand, made me want to shout out my wholehearted agreement

When I read Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In a few years ago, I wanted to cry, rage and throw the book across the room. It made me feel irrelevant, odd, and lazy because I don’t care to have a big career where I bust my ass 12 hours a day in profit-serving work that would infest my life like a non-native species were I to rest for a minute.

On the other hand, when I read Marissa Orr’s Lean Out, an open response to Sheryl Sandberg’s book, I certainly shed a tear or two while turning pages. But for a completely different reason. I felt recognized, heard, and validated.

Continue reading “Marissa Orr’s Lean Out helped me make sense of my own ambition” →