Caught in the Headlights by Barry K. Phillips

Caught in the Headlights: 10 Lessons Learned the Hard Way
by Barry K. Phillips

Non-fiction
116 pages, softcover
Target Reader: Adult

Cedar Fort
978-1599551678
Release Date: June 2, 2008



From the pubisher:

Why do you do the things you do? Looking for things like happiness, self-esteem, success, or getting control of your life? You're not alone. There's just one catch… you're after the wrong things.

But they sound so good, they've got to be worthy pursuits, right? Sorry. They just won't bring the results you think you're after. Caught in the Headlights, 10 Lessons Learned the Hard Way examines ten things that most of us think we want only to realize that our eyes are on the wrong prize. Barry's frank, insightful and often humorous look at these common goals not only entertains, but enlightens us to the goals we should seek, and what to do differently now that we know better.

Read a chapter HERE.

How many of you groaned when you read that title? I did. But...

Wait. Don't give up on this review yet.

First a bit about Barry Phillips. Barry loves to write and has been editor-in-chief of a national magazine and he's written for Glenn Beck's Fusion magazine. He has also written for a political website. But this book is not at all political. Barry is a religious man, a proudly proclaimed Christian. Those ideas inform the topics in his book, but it is not at all preachy. Barry is has been married to the same woman for nearly 25 years and has 5 children—that in itself gives him the street cred to write a book like this. Barry is also well-rounded. He loves to cook (and eat), hot air ballooning, woodworking, drawing, camping and playing drums. With all those hobbies, I'm not sure how he found time to write this book, but he did. And I'm glad.

Barry Phillips is a fun and entertaining writer and even though he's dealing with life-improvement topics, this is a great read. His humorous, sometimes self-deprecating style alone is worth the effort to read this book. This is a short book and a very quick and easy read. I read through it very fast to do this review, but I plan to go back and read it again slowly because I thought it was that good.

As I read through this, I found myself at times laughing, at times stabbed to the heart with realization, but always nodding my head in agreement.

Many of you know that since my publishing company tanked at the end of 2006, I've sort of been at loose ends, adrift on a sea of indecision and self-doubt, spinning my wheels a lot as I try to decide what I'm going to do next. This book did not have the answers but it did point out to me some of the things I'm doing wrong. There were several areas that rang so true for me that I know I need to go back and do some self-examination, make some changes. This book came to me at just the right time, when I'm ready to do that.

I highly recommend this book. It would also make a great gift book for college graduates (not high school grads—they don't have enough life experience yet), those in a mid-life crisis, or anyone who is "doing all the right things" yet still finds that they're dissatisfied with their life.

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*Received a review copy from the author.

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