Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This is a very short book, so as to engage people who are caught up in frenetic activity and travel -- lots of travel. The target audience, in other words, seems to be a very small, very affluent, well-traveled and over scheduled bunch, who have lost touch with quiet and solitude. But the quiet and solitude the book discusses are almost laughably over-the-top and expensive to find: monasteries and retreats in some of the world's most remote places, which means ironically that these frenetic travelers and movers are doing more traveling and moving to get to those places of peace and quiet. I thought that perhaps some of the discussion of how to adjust to and take advantage of such solitude would be applicable to me, a more ordinary person who does not travel a lot but who still feels frequently caught up in frantic activity and movement (although not travel). However, I had to laugh aloud when I read about eating breakfast outdoors and listening to bird song in some far-away remote spot: without paying to go somewhere to a retreat or hotel, I can't be outdoors in the morning without being overpowered by gas fumes from rush hours traffic and the sounds of other people's music. Rather than addressing people who are already fortunate and in the position to make choices, it would be nice if Pico Iyer, an author I usually admire and enjoy reading, had offered some suggestions from those of us who live in major cities (i.e. the majority of the population) and don't have money to pursue "stillness" in the particularly expensive form he recommends here (i.e. the majority of the population). The only suggestions I found that could be applied to someone like me were taking day-long breaks from electronics, or adopting something along the lines of the way of Iyer lives in Japan without a car or bikes. Well, that last would be terrific, if you live in a place with good public transportation, or if groceries, doctors, libraries, and schools are within walking distance -- and safe to walk in all weathers and times of day; if you are not physically disabled; if you do not have small children who must either be watched by someone else or dragged along. Again, not many of us are so fortunate. The book is lovely and lyrical, but I think "stillness" means one thing to people who have spent their entire lives traveling and have the money and time to pursue alternatives, and quite another to people who have a tougher time finding islands of peace and quiet in an unprivileged daily life.