4 out of 4 stars
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Trials and tribulations are an indispensable part of our lives and a successful person isn’t the one who has never tasted failure but the one who emerged out of it with a sanguine attitude. In Jorge P. Newbury’s words, these relatively short periods of extraordinary effort that separate the winners and the losers are ‘burn zones’.
Oftentimes, one might feel like they have hit a dead end but the manner in which they deal with that situation determines whether they’ll get to witness a promising sight awaiting them on the other side. Jorge P. Newbury’s Burn Zones: Playing Life’s Bad Hands is an autobiographical book that elucidates various events in the life of Mr. Newbury that made him into the brilliant entrepreneur, athlete, author, son, and husband that he is today. Ever since he was a child, the prized virtues of perseverance, tenacity and diligence were instilled in Jorge. He started working as a paperboy at a very tender age and went on to buy an ice cream truck. Subsequently, he dropped out of school and established himself as a record mogul before switching to an entirely different career path and proving his mettle as a cyclist. It was during his cycling era that Jorge came across the term ‘burn zones’ and devised the greater meaning of the same. Later, he quit cycling after facing a burn zone and climbed his way to success as a real estate tycoon before a natural disaster ruined everything for him. Is Jorge able to emerge victorious after encountering the greatest burn zone in his life?
Personally, I have become a fan of Mr. Jorge P. Newbury’s writing style. The book starts off with the author providing a short intriguing synopsis highlighting the concept of burn zones and hinting towards the compelling story that awaits the readers. In my opinion this is one of the many strategies employed by the author in order to keep the audience gripped to the book. Instead of indulging in monotonous narration, Mr. Newbury uses dialogues and anecdotes to tell his story. Instead of blandly stating a fact about himself, he backs it up with a riveting tale. Moreover, he adds pictures in just the right places with appropriate captions, adding a touch of authenticity. Providing the perfect amount of precise details such as street names, dates, events, and even things like dimensions of cassettes contribute the same cause.
While writing autobiographies, writers tend to get carried away with the stories and the book ends up looking like a bunch of odd tales stacked together. However, in his book Burn Zones: Playing Life’s Bad Hands, Jorge Newbury ensures that the story is a whole. He achieves this by frequently referencing to a couple of things such as the idea of burn zones, the fact that he hates being called Jorgie, etc. Therefore, even though the book is nicely divided into sections, those sections do not appear to be entirely segregated.
I would rate this book 4 out of 4 stars because it epitomises the art of storytelling. The story of Jorge P. Newbury’s life seemed realistic and not far-fetched, which is a prerequisite for a great autobiography. There is a perfect balance of the author’s personal and professional life. The book appears to be professionally edited and I didn’t come across any errors. A significant part of the book revolves around finance and real estate and the author does a great job simplifying those concepts for the audience. I would recommend this book to people of all age groups who are interested in inspirational autobiographies. I can assert that Burn Zones has the potential to actually motivate the audience and bring about a positive change in their lives.
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Burn Zones
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