Mar 12 2010
The Power of Half by Kevin and Hannah Salwen
I have seriously mixed feelings about The Power of Half: One Family’s Decision to Stop Taking and Start Giving Back. On the one hand I firmly agree with the idea behind the book: that we focus too much on collecting “stuff” and not enough time on giving of ourselves and this impacts the character of our children. On the other hand, the tone and style of the book just doesn’t quite work.
Allow me to kick things off by lazily stealing using PW’s review:
In this well-meaning but self-congratulatory memoir, the Salwen family decides to sell their gorgeous Atlanta mansion, move to a home half the size, and commit half the proceeds to the needy. Putting their plan into action, a raft of family decisions and meetings are led by mom Joan, a former corporate consulting executive and teacher, with the help of an actual whiteboard. Entrepreneur and activist Kevin, a former Wall Street Journal editor, writes with daughter Hannah, who, as instigator of the family project, provides commentary and practical suggestions. The chronicle is intriguing and the cohesiveness of the four family members is remarkable: “Friends and others… always focused on… the big house, the big donation, or the trip to Africa” with their eventual partner, The Hunger Project, rather than “the transformational energy” of “a family eager to stand for something collectively.” The authors tend to gush over their efforts while discounting the privileged position that allows them to make them (“we think everyone can give one of the three T’s: time, talent or treasure”); their unflagging optimism, buttressed by clear self-regard, can also be tiring.
The hook (selling their house and giving half the proceeds to charity) is intriguing and following the story on how that process plays out is interesting in many ways.
But the drawbacks of style and tone noted by PW really drag the story down.
More below.
