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The Road to Character
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The Road to Character Hardback - 2015

by David Brooks

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Reader reviews for The Road to Character

From the publisher

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - David Brooks challenges us to rebalance the scales between the focus on external success--"rsum virtues"--and our core principles.

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE ECONOMIST

With the wisdom, humor, curiosity, and sharp insights that have brought millions of readers to his New York Times column and his previous bestsellers, David Brooks has consistently illuminated our daily lives in surprising and original ways. In The Social Animal, he explored the neuroscience of human connection and how we can flourish together. Now, in The Road to Character, he focuses on the deeper values that should inform our lives.

Looking to some of the world's greatest thinkers and inspiring leaders, Brooks explores how, through internal struggle and a sense of their own limitations, they have built a strong inner character. Labor activist Frances Perkins understood the need to suppress parts of herself so that she could be an instrument in a larger cause. Dwight Eisenhower organized his life not around impulsive self-expression but considered self-restraint. Dorothy Day, a devout Catholic convert and champion of the poor, learned as a young woman the vocabulary of simplicity and surrender. Civil rights pioneers A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin learned reticence and the logic of self-discipline, the need to distrust oneself even while waging a noble crusade.

Blending psychology, politics, spirituality, and confessional, The Road to Character provides an opportunity for us to rethink our priorities, and strive to build rich inner lives marked by humility and moral depth.

"Joy," David Brooks writes, "is a byproduct experienced by people who are aiming for something else. But it comes."

Praise for The Road to Character

"A hyper-readable, lucid, often richly detailed human story."--The New York Times Book Review

"This profound and eloquent book is written with moral urgency and philosophical elegance."--Andrew Solomon, author of Far from the Tree and The Noonday Demon

"A powerful, haunting book that works its way beneath your skin."--The Guardian

"Original and eye-opening . . . Brooks is a normative version of Malcolm Gladwell, culling from a wide array of scientists and thinkers to weave an idea bigger than the sum of its parts."--USA Today

Details

  • Title The Road to Character
  • Author David Brooks
  • Binding Hardback
  • Edition First Edition
  • Pages 320
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Random House, New York
  • Publication date 2015-04-14
  • Features Bibliography, Index
  • ISBN 9780812993257 / 081299325X
  • Weight 1.25 lbs (0.57 kg)
  • Dimensions 9.6 x 6.3 x 1.3 in (24.38 x 16.00 x 3.30 cm)
  • Category Philosophy
  • Library of Congress subjects Conduct of life, Character
  • Library of Congress Catalogue Number 2015011798
  • Dewey Decimal Code 170.44

Media reviews

Citations

  • Booklist, 04/15/2015, Page 4
  • Christian Century, 02/17/2016, Page 40
  • Christianity Today, 05/01/2015, Page 60
  • Kirkus Reviews, 03/01/2015, Page 0
  • Library Journal, 11/15/2014, Page 0
  • Library Journal Prepub Alert, 11/15/2014, Page 63
  • New York Times Book Review, 04/26/2015, Page 12
  • Publishers Weekly, 03/09/2015, Page 0

About the author

David Brooks is one of the nation's leading writers and commentators. He is an op-ed columnist for The New York Times and appears regularly on PBS NewsHour and Meet the Press. He is the bestselling author of The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement; Bobos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There; and On Paradise Drive: How We Live Now (And Always Have) in the Future Tense.

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The Road to Character
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The Road to Character

by Brooks, David

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The Road to Character
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The Road to Character

by Brooks, David

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The Road to Character
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The Road to Character

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The Road to Character
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The Road to Character

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
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The Road to Character
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The Road to Character

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The Road to Character

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The Road to Character
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The Road to Character

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The Road to Character

by David Brooks

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The Road to Character

The Road to Character

by David Brooks

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
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Random House Publishing Group, 2015. Hardcover. Very Good. May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed.
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The Road to Character

The Road to Character

by David Brooks

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  • Hardback
Condition
Very good
Binding
Hardcover
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780812993257 / 081299325X
Quantity available
1
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Description:
Random House Publishing Group, 2015. Hardcover. Very Good. Disclaimer:A copy that has been read, but remains in excellent condition. Pages are intact and are not marred by notes or highlighting, but may contain a neat previous owner name. The spine remains undamaged. An ex-library book and may have standard library stamps and/or stickers. The dust jacket is missing. At ThriftBooks, our motto is: Read More, Spend Less.
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