ENG250 (Sandler)

Summary: Reveals how established attitudes affect all aspects of one's life, explains the differences between fixed and growth mindsets, and stresses the need to be open to change in order to achieve fulfillment and success.

Identifies the qualities of successful people, posing theories about the cultural, family, and idiosyncratic factors that shape high achievers, in a resource that covers such topics as the secrets of software billionaires and why the Beatles earned theirfame.

Throughout this spirited memoir, novelist and nonfiction writer Villaseñor (who has chronicled his family history in Rain of Gold; Wild Steps of Heaven; Thirteen Senses; etc.) faces an entourage of abusive teachers and embittered classmates who chip away at his confidence, leading him to the brink of adopting a personal philosophy of violence-for-respect. His retelling of sometimes humorous, sometimes chilling childhood experience is at once painful and gratifying. He imaginatively and poetically remembers his tumultuous childhood with the simplicity of a child and the introspection of a sage.