morepagesplease's review against another edition
2.0
I'm finally giving up on this one. It wasn't the book i was hoping for, which would have been one that outlined how to live a more graceful and gracious life. Instead the half of the book I read was a homage to celebrities and their innate grace. I refuse to use my valuable and rare reading time on celebrities, so I'm moving on. In fairness I am not rating this book as I did not fully complete it.
jaclynday's review against another edition
2.0
About 50 pages into this book, I was already bored by it. Kaufman’s premise is interesting though: she tries to unpack what “grace” really is or looks like, covering everyone from athletes to famous actors (Cary Grant, for example). Later, she challenges the reader to embrace grace in a new way too. But therein lies the disconnect that follows us throughout the book. Is everyday grace attainable, or even desirable? Is a mere change of posture enough for us to smugly congratulate ourselves on gracefulness? This book would have better suited the reader as an essay, perhaps focusing solely on Cary Grant, since Kaufman comes back to him over and over again. The Art of Grace was a great idea with mediocre execution.
ifelearns's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
4.5
Part Cary Grant propaganda/ Part informative.
anarag's review against another edition
2.0
This book annoyed me. The author has written beautifully lyrical passages to express intriguing ideas about grace, elegance, movement, beauty. But, as a whole, it felt stitched together from the numerous essays she has written in the past. Additionally, it struck me that her thesis would have made a fine New Yorker article but instead was inflated to become an entire book. Read the introduction and you have heard all her thoughts; the rest is mostly example and several of those are repeated ad infinitum. If you are a Cary Grant fan, you will appreciate her devoting so many pages to describing his grace; as for me, I will watch his films with new appreciation and try to sit up straighter as a result of reading this book. But I can't recommend it.
discocrow's review against another edition
4.0
I no longer recall what it was that first turned me onto this book. Whatever it was that caused me to put it into my 'to read' shelve I'm grateful for, as this book was enlightening and reassuring, a soft light to guide the way towards the path to inner perfection. This book is not so much a guide as it is a celebration and definition of grace - that elusive quality that we all know and strive for. Who doesn't wish to be associated with it, after all?
This book leads through example. Between its covers are a number of actors, artists, an athletes that possess that quality we call grace. Through anecdata of how they possess it, what they do, how they act, and what it is that sets them apart from the rest - we all can hope to cultivate grace within our own lives. While we won't all be the star athletes and performers enumerate here, there is still ample opportunity to learn what characterizes grace and how we can adapt it into our own lives, and through that adaptation, spread it into the world around us. Mimicry, after all, is a very human action.
This book is enlightening, especially in the final section where everything is broken down into a slight scientific understanding of form and behavior, a history of grace and why it is so very cherished. Grace, it seems, is something we never wholly lose - and by cultivating it even the ravages of Parkinsons can be significantly lessened. Dance and music, rhythmic motion, is something our bodies and spirits crave - and even through the horrors of dementia we can enjoy and incur grace.
This is a good book, and more than that a useful one. We all need a bit more grace in our lives.
This book leads through example. Between its covers are a number of actors, artists, an athletes that possess that quality we call grace. Through anecdata of how they possess it, what they do, how they act, and what it is that sets them apart from the rest - we all can hope to cultivate grace within our own lives. While we won't all be the star athletes and performers enumerate here, there is still ample opportunity to learn what characterizes grace and how we can adapt it into our own lives, and through that adaptation, spread it into the world around us. Mimicry, after all, is a very human action.
This book is enlightening, especially in the final section where everything is broken down into a slight scientific understanding of form and behavior, a history of grace and why it is so very cherished. Grace, it seems, is something we never wholly lose - and by cultivating it even the ravages of Parkinsons can be significantly lessened. Dance and music, rhythmic motion, is something our bodies and spirits crave - and even through the horrors of dementia we can enjoy and incur grace.
This is a good book, and more than that a useful one. We all need a bit more grace in our lives.
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