Wes Moore (The
Work: My Search for a Life that Matters, Spiegal & Grau:
Random House, January 2015, 272 pages, $25.00/10.99) seems to be a
man in a hurry, but at this point in his life, at age 36 with
significant experience and no little accomplishment behind him, it's
not certain where he's headed. His first book, The
Other Wes (which I have not read) detailed the almost eery
coincidences and parallels between the parallel lives of two men with
the same name, growing up near each other in the same straightened
circumstances, while one went to prep school, college, and the other
went to prison. The present book emphasizes the nature of work and
accomplishment in endeavors that are rewarding in both financial and
socially beneficial ways. Moore has, at the youthful age of 36, had a
remarkable career, missing only significant elective office to place
him in promising position to seek election at the highest levels. To
suggest his arc has been an attempt to achieve such ambitious goals
would be cynical in the extreme. Meanwhile, Wes Moore has led an
interesting, even inspiring, life worth reading about, learning from,
and following.
Wes Moore
Wes Moore seems to have led a charmed
life, but not without pain. After loosing his father early on, he was
raised by a single mother and hard-working preacher grandfather of
Jamaican ancestry. After encountering significant failure in a
private school in Baltimore, Moore was sent to Valley Forge Military
Academy in Paoli, Pennsylvania, where he struggled against authority
until reaching a realization that he ought to give the school a try. Six
years later, he graduated with honors as commander of the corps of
cadets and then matriculated at Johns Hopkins University, where he
graduated with honors. He was picked as a Rhodes Scholar and studied
at Oxford for a couple of years, picking up a degree and considerable
knowledge and experience, before leaving for Afghanistan as a captain
in the U.S. Army and a specialist on radical Islam. Following his
tour of duty, he was tapped for a year as a White House Fellow,
working for Condoleeza Rice in the State Department, before heading
for several years as an investment banker in New York. At each stop
along the way, Moore soaked up knowledge, experience, and expertise
while always exuding charm and intelligence. He currently is host of
his own show on the Oprah network and tours the country as a
motivational speaker.
At a time when few Americans serve in
the military, and perhaps even fewer politicians, Wes Moore
integrates his varied experiences into a wise perspective on personal
growth, American society, the role of the government for achieving
good, and his own potential for making a difference. His outlook is
optimistic, wholesome, visionary, and realistic. After experiencing a
variety of ways to involve himself in making change serving those in
need, he has, for the time being, chosen the media and the speaking
platform as a way best to spread his view and keep himself before the
public. Pairing his own experience with the profiles of people who
have undertaken big tasks and (largely) succeeded at them by
overcoming huge obstacles, Wes Moore suggests that individuals have
more control over their futures than many believe, and that we are
not controlled by our circumstances, but can make a difference
through hard work, intensive learning, and optimistic goal setting.
Wes Moore's memoir The
Work: My Seaarch for a Life that Matters (Spiegal &
Grau/Random House, January 2015, 272 pages, $25.00/10.99) presents a
picture of an able and thoughtful man headed toward a productive and
worthwhile life. I want to like this book more than I do. Moore's
assessment of the differences between himself and “the other Wes
Moore” ring true to me. His constant acknowledgement of what he
owes the multitude of successful men and women who have taken an
interest in him, mentoring him along the way, his profiles of the
successes and failures of those like him in education, business, and
politics all breathe earnest commitment and believability. There is,
however, something about this book that reeks of being a campgaign
document. Moore's love of family, God, country, and the military all
point to next steps leading somewhere important and meaningful while
he remains patient enough within his ambition to wait to see where
that will be. He exudes charm and intelligence in print and on
television. What Wes Moore's next step will be, how far it will take
him, what he will ultimately achieve all still lie somewhere in the
future. I expect to keep watching to see where that might be. I read this book as an electronic galley supplied to me by
the publisher through
Edelweiss. I read it on my Kindle
app.
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