Steve Friedman

I want to make something plain before I begin. Steve Friedman did not write The Corporate Introvert for me. While I’m introverted and follow his blog Beyond Introversion, I’ve never worked in a corporate environment, and I never intend to. So it was a little surprising that I collected quite a few ideas to help me in my noncorporate life.
Corporate work environments doubtless have things in common and differ from the nonprofit world where I made my career. But I believe all work environments have certain things in common, such as working with other people. And any true introvert understands how perplexing these relationships can be in places where outgoing, attention-grabbing personalities seem to have all the advantages. Steve’s book excels by helping you dig into strengths you already possess so that you can use them to help your organization in ways that feel comfortable for you. He’s not suggesting you change your personality but figuring out ways to share all you have to offer authentically.
In using the metaphor of a tree for your career, he shares how to explore your hidden potential, your roots, to the tips of the branches, where he encourages you to blossom through leadership roles. In addition, he provides solid, practical exercises and advice to help you stretch and enjoy a productive and fulfilling career.
I recommend it to anyone who feels intimidated by the working world.… (mais)

If nothing else, Steve Friedman is honest. How else to explain a memoir like Lost on Treasure Island, a book in which Friedman decides to expose himself and what was a rather demeaning lifestyle to the scrutiny of the reading public? Not only is Friedman willing to make himself look bad, he takes it all a step farther by focusing on the very parts of his New York City lifestyle that make him look the worst.

Friedman, from St. Louis, seems to have arrived in New York City with all of his basic insecurities in tow – and has not been quick to lose them during the years he has made his living there, first as a GQ editor and later as a freelance writer. Not the least of his insecurities (once he finally realized that he is not, after all, the least sophisticated man in NYC) pertains to his obsession with identifying his Mrs. Friedman, the woman with whom he and his children will live happily ever after. This is not an easy task for any man or woman, but Friedman’s burning desire to make it happen now distorted his judgment so greatly that he mistakenly found her more than once – much to the women’s surprise and dismay.

During Steve Friedman’s search for Mrs. Right, women, with the exception of the ones he sometimes mistakenly identified as surefire wife-material, became fungible. He was always willing to have one of them around, but he never suspended his hunt for Mrs. Friedman. She had to be out there somewhere. In a twist, perhaps, of poetic justice, as soon as he grew serious about a woman, his obsession tended to scare her away.

Lost on Treasure Island is the story of one Midwesterner’s love life but, as its subtitle implies, it is more a story of “longing” and “lousy choices” than one of true love. The beauty of Lost on Treasure Island is its author’s ability to laugh at himself while sharing the mishaps of his love life (and to a lesser extent, his work life) with the rest of us. This is a man who admits to trolling for lovers several times a week at various support group meetings held around the city, one able to poke fun at the type of writing he edited during his stint at GQ.

Still in New York City, Friedman is now a more experienced, if not necessarily wiser, man than the one who arrived there from St. Louis hoping to make his mark in publishing. Amidst all the mistakes he catalogues in Lost on Treasure Island, he has obviously done some things right. This is his fifth nonfiction book, and he continues to freelance for publications such as GQ, Esquire, The New York Times, and Runner’s World. In the description of his search for Mrs. Friedman and his dream job, Friedman offers hope to the rest of us: perseverance has a way of overcoming the mistakes that would ruin a lesser man.

Rated at: 3.5… (mais)

About:
Lost on Treasure Island A Memoir of Longing, Love, and Lousy Choices in New York City is Steve Friedman's candid and sometimes humorous memoir where he shares his experiences working in New York City as a literary editor for GQ.

Originally from St. Louis, Steve takes the plunge and moves to NYC. While working for GQ he makes friends out of work colleagues, has affairs with different women, has his heart broken and meets actress Mary-Louise Parker among a few other celebs.

Steve makes some bad choices in fashion (he wears a lime-green business suit to a job interview), makes bad decisions in love and pitches some interesting story ideas to his boss.
In his mid-forties, Steve realizes he wants to settle down and find Mrs.Friedman. He embarks on what he calls 'The Plan' in order to find a wife.
Steve takes the reader along his personal journey of ten years while living in New York, which includes several bad dates, betrayal by loved ones, his joining a self-help group and his difficulties at work.

My thoughts:
I enjoyed reading Lost on Treasure Island and found it to be an open and honest memoir by Steve Friedman.
As I read, I felt like an old friend was sitting next to me telling me his life story. Some of it was funny, some of it was endearing, some of it was awkward, all of it was interesting and well written. Steve tells his story and you can either like him or not. He writes about his several affairs, and even cheating on his girlfriend.
Although Steve had a drinking problem in the past and suffered from chronic stomach aches and sleeplessness, he manages to add humor to his story and keep his memoir light and even inspirational at times.
I found it to be refreshing reading a memoir that wasn't depressing.

Steve always tried to keep his head up, and when things got tough his mantras were It is a pleasant day. I am my own worst enemy. Things aren't so bad. This too shall pass.

Steve had me laughing out loud as I read with his witty remarks and his reactions to different people and situations.
I recommend Lost on Treasure Island to anyone in the mood for a memoir that's open, honest and funny.… (mais)