I first came across Mike’s writing years ago when he was focusing more on helping people break out of their bad habits and become better versions of themselves. That mindset is carried into this book and Mike does a great job of trying to make the strategies and tactics that he uses work for the reader. Here are some of the lines in the book that stood out to me, so I thought I would share them here.

“To get more out of life, you must get more out of yourself. You must take personal responsibility for your thoughts and emotions. You must stop blaming the system. The days of looking outside of yourself for answers are gone!”
These are words that everyone should live by – stop looking to others to provide answers to your problems. Stop thinking that the system is out to get you – it is not out to get you or to get anyone else. Those who are the most successful in life are the ones who take the bull by the horns and make the world around them work for them. Everyone thinks that is some crazy, highly complex thing to do it, but it really is not that hard. Sure, circumstances may not be in your favor today, but that is probably a momentary disruption. Much of this begins to feel like political posturing, but it really is not. It only feels that way because people are so, unfortunately, preconditioned these days to feel like every comment is a political comment. We have to do better, folks.

One of the great parts of this book was Mike’s comments about how people often talk to themselves in the silence of their minds or, sometimes, out loud in the privacy of their homes. People often attack themselves with a level of brutality that is unwarranted. He writes, “If you talked to your friends like you talk to yourself, you wouldn’t have any friends.” How true is that? How many times do you wind up saying to yourself, “Come on, you idiot! Why can’t you get this done, moron?!” Why talk to yourself that way?

He also suggests that people should start living in the moment more than worrying about the future, which is advice that folks have been offering for decades. Mike suggests, “You don’t know what’s going to happen in the next minute, much less at a point further in the future, so why are you worrying about it? When you start living in the moment, you stop worrying about the future.” When I work with my students, I often find that they are concerned about things in the future that they really do not have to worry about today. For example, I cannot tell you how many students have come to me after getting a bad grade on an exam or a paper and they are all distraught over how that bad grade on that assignment is going to ruin their chance at a future career. Aside from exposing those students who likely have a serious condition that needs to be addressed by a qualified medical doctor, I try to explain to these individuals that their futures are not based on today’s tests, but rather how they respond to them. When you perform poorly on an exam, then study harder for the next one and achieve better, but in all circumstances do not panic over the future!

Perhaps one of the best bits of advice that Mike offers comes at a great time when many of us are ultra-connected to the internet and technology. He writes, “Being plugged in and connected does not signal importance. It shows that you are a slave to others.” Amen! Over the last few months, I have talked to many of the students that I mentor in Generation Z who are actively disconnecting from social media and from being always turned on. That is great! Now, though, I think one of the biggest issues that our population has (in America, at least) is the addiction to the immediate gratification (or anger) that posting on social media provides. Admittedly, while we find this quite a bit in the youngest ages, it really has taken hold in the retirement age community. People are just addicted to being always turned on and it is not, in any way, healthy. In fact, with some retirement age folks, their addiction to always being connected is becoming scary.

On this note, I appreciate Mike’s comments about saying “no” to requests for your time. Over the last year or so, I have definitely found myself telling people no more often and it has been a very healthy development in my life. He writes, “By saying no, I am not compelling anyone to do anything. I am not imposing my will on anyone. I am simply asking to be left alone.”

The Gorilla Mindset, to me, is an active, productive mix of stoicism and personal responsibility with a bit of taking action. Mike presents this mindset in an easy to read, clear manner. If you are looking for a bit of a different self-help book, then give this one a shot.

Just a final bit from this book. Mike shares some great advice on being happier and being more enthusiastic about life: “Mood and posture are linked, and it’s been proven that engaging in the physical act of smiling can actually make you feel happier.”

Smile more, folks!

A number of years ago, I remember the first time I heard someone say, “Everyone knows someone who has been impacted by the opioid epidemic.” And I thought to myself, “Hmmm, that doesn’t have to be true for everyone, right?” Well, after reading this book and living my life for a few years, yes, I think that this statement may be true for everyone. I know that one of my close friends from high school battles an opioid addiction to the point where they tried to take their own life. And that’s just one person that I know who is battling the addiction – there are many more, unfortunately. It is a horrifying drug no matter what form it takes, but the way that Quionnes wrote about how black tar heroin made its way across the country is the stuff of medical nightmare tales. There is a lot to write about in reviewing this book, so I want to just focus in on two elements that Quionnes writes about: the corporate nature of the structure for the drug dealers out of Mexico and the misinformation that was promulgated about the pros and cons of using opioid-based drugs for pain management. Also, since I read this book on my Kindle, I was able to highlight some lines in the book, a few of which I will include below. Of course, the highlights that I include below are just scratching the surface of a much larger discussion on these (and more) topics in the book.

“Without legions of middle-class kids with cars, the Xalisco Boys’ business model didn’t work. In cars, kids shot up, gave rides to fellow junkies, hid their dope. When their parents’ trust in them finally died, the kids lived in these cars, and the cars became their private bedrooms.” Dreamland goes deep into who the drug dealers were, where they came from, what brought them to this type of life, etc. That quote, from Dreamland, gives great insight into why the business model worked in middle-class neighborhoods. They operated what looked and felt like a franchise-style business. They would set up a cell in a city and then arrange the cell to be the quick delivery service for drugs directly to your door or, in the case of these middle-class kids, at a prearranged drop off point. Nothing different than ordering food for delivery, and it worked like a charm.

“To actually look up Porter and Jick, to discover that it was a one-paragraph letter to the editor, and not a scientific study, required going to a medical school library and digging up the actual issue, which took time most doctor’s didn’t have.” Earlier in the book, Quionnes exposes that the “research” on which much of the pain management movement was based on was not an academic or scientific study. No, instead it was an obscure letter to the editor that was never intended to even be sent out. This irritates me to no end not just because it exposes that the basis on which doctors began prescribing, and big pharma began producing, opioids was false, but it irritates me because this type of false authority runs rampant in a variety of worlds outside of healthcare. The social sciences are plagued with people taking data and findings that are not generalizable and then generalizing that information to “prove” their points. But that’s a story for another day. The point here is that Quionnes uncovered that the scientific roots of mass producing opioids to address pain management are false. And that is infuriating.

And, finally, I have to offer this quote from Dreamland to end this review: “He was a football player and handsome. He was a linebacker and a ferocious hitter, and thus popular. So a lot of what he did was forgiven and he got used to that. Football players were common among the new rural opiate addicts. Some got addicted to pills prescribed for injuries. Others, like Wes, took them at parties.” Sometimes you’re reading a book and you come across a few lines like these that hit home. I know a few guys who played football both at the high school and collegiate levels and they fell into this exact trap. Life was easy, they got away with things that other people would have been sanctioned or punished for, they took a few pills maybe took a few shots, and that was the end of it. And because they did it, others did it, too. Absolutely horrifying.

And that is Dreamland, folks. Overall, it is the story of the horrifying opioid epidemic that took hold of the people in this country, regardless of age, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, etc. Here’s hoping that the reform efforts that are currently underway continue and are bolstered with more funding.

One part of this book that stuck with me was the deep humiliation and insult that Ross suffered at the whims of Vince McMahon. Time and time again, Ross recounts how he was put into on-air positions that he found humiliating and that he was uncomfortable with from the start. It actually becomes painful and frustrating to read the on-going embarrassment that he has to deal with just to be able to do his job. As someone who watched some of these acts take place on television, they never seemed to make sense to me and never really fit in with any of the other stories that were going on. They all just seemed oddly out of place and disconnected from everything else on the show.

And, well, that is exactly what you learn when reading this book. Namely, that McMahon and his writers had a penchant for making Ross feel terrible. In other words, they enjoyed watching him get degraded on television. Again, it becomes brutal to read how, over and over again, Ross was put into a position that made him feel uncomfortable and that he felt obligated to participate in to be “in” with the wrestlers and the boss. This is the stuff of a modern day harassment lawsuit.

However, the part of the book that stayed with me the most was the beautiful tributes that Ross gives to his now-passed wife. She was his rock during these turbulent times and always reassured him when he would go back to the promotion. It sounds like the relationship that most people dream of finding – a man and a woman who truly understand and appreciate one another. For that part and for the love that these two shared, it was painful to read about how her passing in the book and the reader can feel the raw emotion that Ross is dealing with due to that major loss in his life.

At some point later in the book, Ross talks about his connection with Tony Khan and his new, upstart wrestling company called All Elite Wrestling (AEW). This is the show that Ross now finds himself announcing on each week and he appears to be having fun and enjoying himself while doing it. The comments about AEW are a nice way to end an emotional roller coaster that is much more a story about his abuse by McMahon and a love letter to his late wife for supporting him than anything else. If you are or were a wrestling fan, then I think that you will enjoy reading this book.

And that is what Random Family is all about – how hectic and random life can be for folks living at a certain income level and under certain economic conditions. At a time in our country when we are seriously considering shifting scarce dollars from police departments to other, community-based resource initiatives, the story of Cesar, Coco, Lourdes, Jessica, and everyone else in the book is more relevant than ever before. Author Adrian Nicole LeBlanc writes about these individuals, their histories, their intertwined families, and how they make it through life, one day at a time.

Cesar’s story was one that I found particularly engaging. He winds up in jail for a few different reasons, not the least of which was murdering his best friend (accidentally). Coco falls in love with him (at age 15!) before he is locked away. Coco has two children with Cesar (and three children by other men; totaling four girls and one boy in all) and much of LeBlanc’s story weaves into how this blended family struggles to survive. They live in one place, get evicted, stay with friends, get kicked out, etc. It is incredibly difficult for Coco to put down roots for her family for a variety of reasons not the least of which is the tenuous struggle that they are engaged in as non-contributors to an economy that insists on a clean record for participation.

At times, it becomes frustrating for the reader because you just want to reach out and find a way to help the family.

Back to Cesar – he fits the archetype that you hear about so often on the news and in documentaries. That is, he lives the typical life of a young male in an urban neighborhood, but there are real consequences to being so aggressive in trying to prove one’s masculinity. He is a man who is both left alone to grow up on his own and then essentially left to rot in a penal system that does not help him grow and mature as they should. Again, the reader becomes frustrated with this element of the ethnography because you want to just find a way to help Cesar and his expanding family by guiding them to make certain choices over others. But that is what ethnographies are for, right? To show the world how people live and survive in their environment.

Ten years after the book was published, LeBlanc was interviewed by the New Yorker as an update to her initial ethnography. For those of you who have read Random Family, I recommend reading this interview. It provides a little bit of insight into LeBlanc’s approach to recording notes, though it generally does not give an update on the individuals that you meet in the book. Still, as soon as I was done reading the book, I searched the internet for some sort of update on the people that you learn so much about during Random Family. Sadly, I could not find an update on these folks, but then again – that is the way that a book like this one is supposed to work.

You read it, learn about their lives, and then it is over.

The main plot of this book is that there is a worldwide epidemic that essentially ended civilization as we know it. The book follows a family that is doing their best to make life work out for them in the Yukon and, in particular, it follows the experiences of a young girl as she tries to live whatever life is leftover after civilization came to an end. Johnson goes out of his way to bring you into the desperation and seeming hopelessness of this new world and he tells this story though the eyes of these few remaining humans. It is a story that we sometimes see in movies and sometimes on television shows, but Johnson brings that story of despair to life in the written form.

While the family thinks that they are alone in the wilderness (with one big, burly, creepy neighbor living nearby), they soon find out that there are others who are still alive out there in this otherwise dead world and that not all of them have the most noble intentions. What struck me about Johnson’s writing on this theme is that he painted a very dreary, hopeless vision of the life that this family was living, but then when he introduced the outside world there were vibrant sparks of hope that glittered throughout the remainder of the remaining narrative. That’s the type of impact that Jax has on this story; for the family living in the wilderness, Jax is the beginning of the unraveling of their understanding of the end of the world. In other words, if Jax is out there (and the people hunting him), then maybe there is something, some bit of the world, that survived what they believed was the apocalypse.

Every once in a while, Johnson takes you back to the way the world was before the epidemic took over. As you might imagine, the longer the book goes on, the more the reader learns about some of the most compelling plot points that span from the pre-epidemic world to the post-epidemic world. We learn about how the epidemic spread, how the government tried to take control, how there was research going on into a vaccination and possibly a cure – all of the things that you might imagine in this genre and dealing with this type of content. What makes this all compelling in this story, though, is how the characters are woven into the larger narrative.

And that is what is fun about reading Johnson’s The Wolves of Winter. The story shifts from despair to action/adventure and excitement to, ultimately, hopefulness. Johnson does all of this by weaving the characters that you know (remember, these are likely the last people alive) into a story that starts as small as a log cabin and expands to, potentially, the entire planet. If your are into new writers and you are into well-told stories about the apocalypse, then check out Tyrell Johnson’s The Wolves of Winter!

The Final Reality is a captivating, fast-paced action/thriller that pits two geniuses against each other with the fate of the world in the balance. If you have not read the first two books in the Alex Pella trilogy, then you are missing out on one of the most powerful displays of what this world’s future may look like under unchecked authoritarian regimes. What is frightening is that the early footprints of these regimes are readily evident in today’s geopolitical landscape. National debts rising out of control, a desire to disrupt the spread of free thought and free speech, being instantly shut down when trying to keep massive corporate and/or governmental structures in check – all of these are the building blocks of the world that The Final Reality‘s two geniuses inhabit and fight to control. On the one hand, you have Julius Windsor – the would-be good guy if everyone only just listened to him and his brilliance. On the other hand, you have Alexander Pella – the three-steps-ahead foil to Windsor’s every move. If you have read the first two novels in the series, then you know who these two men really are (genetically, that is) and knowing that bit of information makes every interaction between these two that much more exhilarating.

What Martino does better than anyone else in this genre is integrate actual legend and folklore along with biblical narrative in a post-contemporary vision of the future. In The Final Reality, you can expect to read a high action thriller that includes Bible-based references on the location of the Creation story’s Garden of Eden in the same scene that you will read about fantastical flying airships from millennia ago – that’s right… millennia! And that was one of the fun parts of reading this book – being brought (again) into this world that Martino creates that has layers upon layers of fascinating stories yet to be told.

Even though The Final Reality is the final novel in the Alex Pella series, the world that is created through the end of this story is one that is ripe for new legends to be built on, new heroes to emerge, and new tales to tell. I would not be surprised to see Martino return to this world in the future to tell the story of the new/old continent Mu or to talk about the devastation wrought by the shifting tectonic plates (another utterly fascinating element of the story, for those of you keeping track). This is one of the most brilliant aspects of Martino’s writing; namely, that he writes a story wherein millions of people around the world are lost in major global catastrophes related to shifting tectonic plates and yet he is able to keep the focus of the story on Windsor and Pella and their epic struggle for dominance in this new world. Taking massive, global struggles for power and embodying them in a battle between two individuals makes for a great story.

Here’s an official trailer for the novel:

Once again, Martino brings his gripping style of storytelling to a world that includes romance, humor, intelligent banter, and glimpses of the science fiction-fueled future earth that may yet come to pass. If you are heading in to some vacation time and you want a fun, page-turning thrill ride to keep you busy (and maybe give you some insight into what the world may become), then The Final Reality is the book for you.

It is not that I did not begin reading the book. Rather, it is that I stopped reading new books and reviewing them on this blog for a number of reasons. However, after rediscovering this book on my Nook a few weeks ago, I recommitted myself to reading it and I am so glad that I did. Years ago, I remember thinking, “What could I possibly get out of this book that is going to be worth the effort?” Years later (now), I am glad to have read a thoughtful, yet fun travel diary prepared by Adam as he spent one year traveling to different parts of the world. What ultimately drew me into the book was the way that Adam told his story as he went from one country to the next. His story is written in a manner of new discovery – finding out about the peculiarities of new cultures through the eyes of someone experiencing them for the first time.

And throughout that discovery is humor. The humor of what happens when you do not speak the same language as the people whose country that you are in, the humor of what happens when you work to speak with your girlfriend’s family when they speak a totally different language, the humor of what happens when you lose rock, paper, scissors and have to go knuckle deep in a bull (oh yeah, it happened, people). Mixed with bigger issues like endemic racism and poor economic conditions, Adam manages to bring a lighthearted approach to telling this story. And while not all of the stories are uplifting (the story about how Adam quit on his basketball trainer Jack, for example), they tend to convey larger lessons to the reader.

Some of the highlights that I made while reading the book include: Adam’s walking through the Mayan ruins and thinking, “Eh, these are satisfactory,” is kind of what I think my reaction would be; recognizing that the poor kids that he was helping did not view their lot in life as impoverished, but rather that they were just having fun and going about their daily business; the frightening issue that Adam ran into with his passport in Honduras (this would be my nightmare); the bullfighting in Nicaragua (crazy); visiting with Flora Herras; noticing the racist signals in a house in Australia; meeting Raf in the Philippines (this was one of my favorite stories in the book, honestly, since I often work with folks that I only know as names on a screen); and the awe-inspiring power of walking through Auschwitz.

As someone who has done a lot of traveling (domestically, admittedly) and engaged in a great deal of charity and volunteer work, I appreciated one of the comments that Adam made towards the end of the book. He notes that he did not go on this trip to meet himself and he was happy before he left on his first leg of the journey. And he did not go on this trip to become more fulfilled or to become more mature. Rather, he just wanted to explore, to investigate, to see the world for himself. That is a great takeaway for anyone who is wondering why they should go out and try something new – not because you are going to grow or change or become the master of a new skill, but rather to go out there to live life. I love it.

In terms of criticisms for the book, my only real criticism is not of the book, but rather the circumstances that most young people find themselves in today when they approach the age that Adam was when he took off on this journey. Somewhere in the book, Adam notes that he graduated from college debt-free (putting aside any other debts that Adam incurred, which he discusses) and I think that is a key distinction in his ability to make this trip versus many of the young people graduating from college today (or who have graduated in recent years). With student loan debt so high, there is likely a generation of individuals who just cannot afford to make this type of investment in cultural exploration. Lord knows that I could not have afforded to do this type of trip at that age (even though I am more than making up for it now in my travels across the country) and I wonder how many people could make this type of journey while saddled with significant student loan debt. Not many, I imagine. Adam does, however, give a bit of insight into how he was able to put the money aside for making this trip (essentially, be frugal).

Oh, and the most fulfilling part of the book came after reading it, when I went to Adam’s website and stumbled across the fact that he did, in fact, get the girl in the long-run. What an awesome postscript to a fun travel diary. If you’re looking for something fun that weaves humor with discovery with a journey around the world, then give One Year Lived a try. I think you will enjoy it as much as I did!

This is not to insinuate that Dreyer is incorrect in any of his suggestions, recommendations, or rules. Rather, this is to suggest that contemporary English has become so out of whack with the basic rules that we sometimes write in a piecemeal method akin to how Dr. Frankenstein built his monster (shout out to anyone who has read Dreyer’s English).

What struck me while reading this book was the fun, playful humor that Dreyer embeds into an otherwise dry, drab, sometimes angry subject. Some of you may recall your English classes as boring or dull or, worse, instructed by someone who was either of these two unfortunate descriptors. I’m glad to say that I did not have that experience (and thus, I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English). But I do feel for those of you who may have had poor instructors and now are plagued with a poor appreciation for the rules of our English language.

Perhaps my favorite part of the book – and a comment that I agree with – is that rules are made to be broken. Of course, you have to know the rules before you break them. I’m with Dreyer on that stance. Yes, go ahead and end a sentence with a preposition if you want to. However, be sure to know what the rules are around why some folks don’t like to have sentences end with a preposition.

For those of you who underwent a rigorous education in the grammatical arts, you’ll find Dreyer’s English to be a great refresher and also a fun trip down what I hope is a pleasant memory lane. For those of you who are not as familiar with the strange peculiarities that make up the English language, you might find this book to be filled with the rules and grammatical laws that have evaded you. Or a playful read. Or both. Whatever. (Another shout out to those who read the book and its fun footnotes.)

Just a final comment, while this book is a fun read and enjoyable for those of us who like linguistics, I was a bit disappointed at the unnecessary distraction added by the often awkward and off-topic insertion of the author’s politics. Early in the book, he takes a shot at the Bush family. Later, he uses Donald Trump, Jr., as an example in a rather derogatory way. He swipes at President Trump in a footnote that looks, feels, and reads laboriously crowbarred into the book. There are other awkward shots at anything not Democratic or left-of-center littered throughout the book including a bizarre footnote where he comments that he originally used the verb “trumps” in an example but he now has an aversion to using that verb. Frankly, it’s creepy for someone to see politics all around them, including in verbs. Break free, people. Don’t let politics run (ruin?) your life.

These types of unnecessary political distractions are awkward in a book about the English language. Of course, part of my frustration with politics being included is that I vehemently reject the politicization of everything in today’s society. The English language should not be politicized. Excess fall backs to political commentary is also why I followed and then, sadly, stopped following the author on Twitter.

The whole world doesn’t need to be political. And, this may be just me, but I’ve begun to become uninterested* in people who only see the world and all of its marvelous elements in shades of Democratic blue and Republican red. Do better, everyone.

*A third shout out to those who read the book. I am uninterested in those who see politics in all shades of life, even linguistics. This is because I am disinterested in politics. There’s a difference, as Dreyer explains.

That unhappy note aside, I’m a fan of this book and I appreciated the humor that Dreyer used in his writing. This was a fun read and as someone who never picks up a brand new book, I am glad that I broke with my historical book-buying approach and purchased this one. If you’re into the English language and its many oddities, then give Dreyer’s English a try. I think you’ll enjoy it!

For example, I stopped at the Phired Up table and had a chance to say hello to some of the newer team members that I have not had the opportunity to meet before. Phired Up played a critical role in the development of several of the Sigma Pi Fraternity chapters in the New Jersey Province that I worked with when I served as Province Archon some 10+ years ago. In fact, based on our wide agreement with the principles in their book, Good Guys, our volunteer team in New Jersey actually hired Phired Up to conduct a regional recruitment workshop for our undergraduate chapters back in Fall 2007 and it was very well-received.

At the NIC’s Annual Meeting of Members, I told the young men at the Phired Up table how much Good Guys improved my chapters and they gave me a copy of their Social Excellence book to review. I finished reading Social Excellence quickly – in a matter of days. My big takeaway from this book is that you have to give life a chance! Go out there and take the risk of saying hello to someone, reach out and shake someone’s hand, live a life that is above the norm. The team at Phired Up talks about the four pillars of social excellence in their book. Those four pillars are curiosity, generosity, authenticity, and vulnerability. I want to talk a little bit more about generosity and authenticity in this post, but there is so much that could be said about curiosity and vulnerability. You might consider getting a copy of the book if you want to read more of Phired Up’s take on those two pillars.

On generosity, they write about the power of saying thank you and the power of making a person’s day by giving them something. It is about making someone else’s experience better through your own actions. In my own work with my fraternity, I have tried my best to give back of my time and professional expertise. I have also been a financial supporter of my local chapter, my province, and my international educational foundation. When I mix what I read in Social Excellence with what I know of my own experience as a volunteer and a donor both in my fraternity and with the many other nonprofits that I work with in my state, I find some interesting intersections. For example, it strikes me that the people who are the loudest detractors – those who want to be opinion leaders, but do not have a well-informed opinion – are those who have typically given the least of their time, expertise, and finances to the cause. This is an interesting revelation because it speaks volumes about generosity as a leading indicator on whether or not you are dealing with a well-intentioned individual or someone who just wants the spotlight for the sake of having the light shine on them.

On authenticity and focusing solely on my work for my fraternity, not my work in the larger nonprofit sector, it is critically important to know the true intent of your people before you place any trust in them. Being truly authentic is difficult for some individuals in the fraternity world because they do not have an example on which to model their actions. For example, if you are an undergraduate and your only interactions with alumni advisors have been painfully forcing a smile and a head nod as these volunteers tell stories about their glory days, then your example of being a good alumni volunteer is skewed. Those volunteers are not working authentically to improve your undergraduate experience – their involvement is more about their own experience and reliving what they loved about their time as an undergraduate. Not good.

Authentic alumni volunteers are those who the needs of the undergraduates (or whomever they are helping) before their own need. When I train new alumni volunteers, I give them this advice: if you respond to an undergraduate’s question by saying, “Well, when I was an undergraduate…” then you have immediately lost their attention. When today’s students as you about today’s problems, they want today’s answers. It takes someone who is authentically committed to improving today’s undergraduate experience to build a bridge between yesterday’s experience and the future. This is not easy to do.

You can get better at building that bridge by focusing on improving your social excellence. And a great way to build your social excellence would be to read this book and study these four pillars. I think you will enjoy it!

Putting my own, initially incorrect approach to reading this book aside, if you are looking for a deep, highly detailed dive into the formation of Tolkien’s Middle-Earth, then this is it. The Return of the Shadow brings you to the very first drafts of The Lord of the Rings – to a world where the familiar foursome of hobbits that are the stars of the trilogy are not Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin. Instead, the reader is treated to Faramond, Frodo, Merry, Odo, Folco, and a host of other hobbits that never made their way into starring roles in the final trilogy. The Return of the Shadow also takes its readers into the thought process behind Tolkien’s creation of iconic characters like Treebeard and Strider. Would you believe that in their first incarnations these well-known players in The Lord of the Rings were much different? For example, in Tolkien’s first draft, Treebeard was working in the service of Sauron. And Strider? He began as the hobbit Peregrin! And these characters are set in a Middle-Earth that includes a forgotten elvish land named Hollin, a Rohan that is still filled with horse lords – but whom are also working in the service of Sauron, and where Gondor is known as Ond.

As fascinating as this early version of Middle-Earth may sound, there are some aspects of The Return of the Shadow that were a bit much for this reader. For example, in his writing and analysis of his father’s work, Christopher Tolkien often repeats words and phrases regarding the story that become more and more laborious as you go along. Also, in some cases he beats a dead horse to the point of absurdity. At one point at the beginning of the third phase of this book, Christopher Tolkien revealed that Odo was no longer going to be part of traveling group and that he would be replaced by Frodo. However, he repeats this revelation three or four times within two or three pages. For someone who gets the point the first time, you do not need to have the same information repeated to you several more times within the span of a few pages.

All things considered, I am glad to have read The Return of the Shadow. While it is an incredibly dense book and while it sometimes dives too deeply for my liking, it is truly a novel that captures the impressive scope and wide-ranging depth of not just Tolkien’s Middle-Earth, but the variety of fascinating characters that live within it. If there is a Lord of the Rings fan in your house or in your family and you want to get them a book that they can get lost in for hours, then this book would make the perfect gift.