In today's post, guest blogger and author Lee Kravitz explains why his new book, UNFINISHED BUSINESS has two reading group guides. Check them both out and let us know which works best for you!
GOING DEEPER
After I got fired from my job as editor in chief of Parade magazine, I became aware of how much my job had defined and dominated my life and identity. I had become disconnected from the people who mattered most to me, including my wife and three young kids, so instead of rushing out to find a new job, I committed myself to a year of tending to my unfinished emotional and spiritual business. I found an abandoned aunt, paid back an old debt, thanked the teacher who had changed my life, made a long-overdue condolence call, eulogized the grandmother whose funeral I had missed, made amends to my childhood bully, and fulfilled a promise I had made to a boy in a refugee camp. In the process, I rediscovered my better, truer self and became a more attentive father, husband, son, and friend—reordering my priorities so that I could lead a more balanced, connected life. Then I wrote a book about it; UNFINISHED BUSINESS: ONE MAN’S EXTRAORDINARY YEAR OF TRYING TO DO THE RIGHT THINGS was published in May.
My publisher told me to limit the readers’ guide for my book to ten questions—any more would be too much, for both readers of the book and Web sites like this one that might want to distribute the guide. I wrote a ten-question version, which you can find here on ReadingGroupGuides.com, and I think it gives a fine, conversation-spurring introduction to the book for most readers. But I also wrote a considerably longer chapter-by-chapter guide for readers who want to go deeper into the book. Let me explain.
Because UNFINISHED BUSINESS is honest and personally revealing, it tends to inspire readers to reflect on their own values and priorities, particularly if they are at a critical juncture in their lives. At readings and book clubs I’ve noticed how quickly the discussion turns from my unfinished business to that of the other people in the room. They begin compiling their own lists and talk about friends they’ve lost touch with, grudges that fester, wrongs they have consciously or unconsciously inflicted on loved ones and strangers. The chapter-by-chapter guide features the sort of probing, nuanced questions that can help these readers address the really difficult emotional to-dos we let slip in the process of leading our busy everyday lives. Once addressed, these are the items of our unfinished business that most deeply enrich and transform us.
As you read my book, check out both guides—the ten-question version and the one called “Going Deeper,” which you can find on my Web site, www.myunfinishedbusiness.com, along with a tool kit full of tips and strategies. Which guide works best for you? I'll share your thoughts with other readers.
-- Lee Kravitz, Author
