Review by Avafisherman -- The Mindset by Ace Bowers
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Avafisherman
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Review by Avafisherman -- The Mindset by Ace Bowers
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Mindset" by Ace Bowers.]
I always believe that the most successful memoirs are the ones that make a reader care about the narrator within mere moments, ones that give us a reason to want to read their story. Masters of the art, such as Patti Smith and Cheryl Strayed, give us a glimpse of what wonders are to come from the second we lay eyes on the first page, whether those wonders be entertainment, honesty, humor, or some other valuable trait. Unfortunately, Ace Bowers didn’t manage to give me a reason to care about his story throughout the entirety of his 92-page memoir.
The Mindset is the tale of how Bowers went from being a janitor to a millionaire in five years. He recollects the difficulty of his childhood, especially how he suffered from his parents' troubled, turbulent relationship. He recounts the events that led him from those painful beginnings to his self-made financial and familial success in Silicon Valley. The plot of the book sounds intriguing at first–a classic rags-to-riches story. However, what makes a rags-to-riches story compelling is often not the plot itself, but the author. We should be able to become engrossed in their lives; in other words, we read memoirs not just to learn about a series of events, but to understand and empathize with an author’s experience of those events. The Mindset is missing two vitally important qualities that contribute to a good memoir: an engaging personality, and a likable tone.
Bowers’ memoir, despite having a storyline that seems quite fit for literary portrayal, is not the inspiring read that Bowers himself seems to think it is. Instead, I found The Mindset to be lackluster and self-pitying. I was confused as to what the point of the book was for a long time–it seemed too broad to be a memoir, as it lacked in detailed, expressive anecdotes, and too vague to be a self-help book–anyone who is trying to become a millionaire will not find much in the way of useful advice here. On top of this, the writing is lazy. Instead of taking the time to express his reactions to his life's events in unique detail, Bowers resorts immediately to superlatives and clichés, often stating to the reader that some events let him down in ways that he couldn’t explain...isn’t the whole point of a memoir to explain one’s experience? The Mindset reads more like a wealthy old businessman bragging on the golf course to his buddies, or perhaps a high schooler who is struggling to meet the assigned word count of an essay, who rephrases his thesis over and over instead of filling the pages with new information.
What bothered me most about Bowers' book was not the quality of writing or the content–it was the ignorance with which he speaks of the world and the people in it. Bowers credits most of his success to his hard work (his mindset), the help of a few others, and God. While doing this, he fails to acknowledge the fact that he is a heterosexual, white man in the U.S.A. Therefore, regardless of his past, the opportunities afforded to him were not made available simply because of his work ethic. This is not to say that he didn’t work hard or didn’t have any struggles in his pursuit of a higher socioeconomic status–clearly he experienced both. However, it is a massive (and, frankly, harmful) oversight to write a memoir about his success without acknowledging the fact that others in his position–namely women and people of color–would have had to face many more obstacles if they were to be put in a similar situation. A simple sense of awareness would have done the trick–instead, I was left shaking my head in disappointment.
I give The Mindset 1 out of 4 stars. The book’s most redeeming quality was the fact that it was neatly edited, and had a few memorable, well-written anecdotes. However, writers have to give to their reader–whether that is entertainment, enlightenment, a shared experience, or something else–in order to make a book worth reading. I believe that if Ace Bowers had spent more time writing colorful, sensitive, humble anecdotes and less time telling us how many people he beat out for a position at a major company, The Mindset would be a far better read.
******
The Mindset
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
I always believe that the most successful memoirs are the ones that make a reader care about the narrator within mere moments, ones that give us a reason to want to read their story. Masters of the art, such as Patti Smith and Cheryl Strayed, give us a glimpse of what wonders are to come from the second we lay eyes on the first page, whether those wonders be entertainment, honesty, humor, or some other valuable trait. Unfortunately, Ace Bowers didn’t manage to give me a reason to care about his story throughout the entirety of his 92-page memoir.
The Mindset is the tale of how Bowers went from being a janitor to a millionaire in five years. He recollects the difficulty of his childhood, especially how he suffered from his parents' troubled, turbulent relationship. He recounts the events that led him from those painful beginnings to his self-made financial and familial success in Silicon Valley. The plot of the book sounds intriguing at first–a classic rags-to-riches story. However, what makes a rags-to-riches story compelling is often not the plot itself, but the author. We should be able to become engrossed in their lives; in other words, we read memoirs not just to learn about a series of events, but to understand and empathize with an author’s experience of those events. The Mindset is missing two vitally important qualities that contribute to a good memoir: an engaging personality, and a likable tone.
Bowers’ memoir, despite having a storyline that seems quite fit for literary portrayal, is not the inspiring read that Bowers himself seems to think it is. Instead, I found The Mindset to be lackluster and self-pitying. I was confused as to what the point of the book was for a long time–it seemed too broad to be a memoir, as it lacked in detailed, expressive anecdotes, and too vague to be a self-help book–anyone who is trying to become a millionaire will not find much in the way of useful advice here. On top of this, the writing is lazy. Instead of taking the time to express his reactions to his life's events in unique detail, Bowers resorts immediately to superlatives and clichés, often stating to the reader that some events let him down in ways that he couldn’t explain...isn’t the whole point of a memoir to explain one’s experience? The Mindset reads more like a wealthy old businessman bragging on the golf course to his buddies, or perhaps a high schooler who is struggling to meet the assigned word count of an essay, who rephrases his thesis over and over instead of filling the pages with new information.
What bothered me most about Bowers' book was not the quality of writing or the content–it was the ignorance with which he speaks of the world and the people in it. Bowers credits most of his success to his hard work (his mindset), the help of a few others, and God. While doing this, he fails to acknowledge the fact that he is a heterosexual, white man in the U.S.A. Therefore, regardless of his past, the opportunities afforded to him were not made available simply because of his work ethic. This is not to say that he didn’t work hard or didn’t have any struggles in his pursuit of a higher socioeconomic status–clearly he experienced both. However, it is a massive (and, frankly, harmful) oversight to write a memoir about his success without acknowledging the fact that others in his position–namely women and people of color–would have had to face many more obstacles if they were to be put in a similar situation. A simple sense of awareness would have done the trick–instead, I was left shaking my head in disappointment.
I give The Mindset 1 out of 4 stars. The book’s most redeeming quality was the fact that it was neatly edited, and had a few memorable, well-written anecdotes. However, writers have to give to their reader–whether that is entertainment, enlightenment, a shared experience, or something else–in order to make a book worth reading. I believe that if Ace Bowers had spent more time writing colorful, sensitive, humble anecdotes and less time telling us how many people he beat out for a position at a major company, The Mindset would be a far better read.
******
The Mindset
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon
