Chancellor's Reading Club Selection for 2012: The Wealth Cure : Putting Money in Its Place by Hill Harper

The Charles W. Chesnutt Library has obtained four copies of Chancellor Anderson's Reading Club Selection for the Freshman Class of 2012, The Wealth Cure : Putting Money in Its Place by Hill Harper. Call Number: HN 25 .H37 2011.

Two copies will circulate, one from the New Books area and one from the Main Stacks; one copy will be on Reserve; and one copy will be located in the Archives and Special Collections Department in the "By and About African Americans" Collection.

The perennial New York Times bestselling author helps readers discover how to put money in its place and use wealth-building as a tool for joy and fulfillment.

Hill Harper is uniquely poised to guide readers through tough times and offers bestselling advice for reaping the rewards of a truly happy life. With The Wealth Cure, he does more than that: He presents a revolutionary new definition of wealth, motivating readers to not only build financial security but to also achieve wealth in every aspect of their lives.

Using his own journey as a parable, Harper inspires the reader to evaluate their values while explaining the importance of laying a sound financial foundation and how to recognize the worth of your relationships and increase the value of your interactions with the people in your life. Drawing on his personal recollections and true stories from family and friends, Harper helps readers begin to see money not as a goal but as a tool that provides freedom for following their passions. The keys include investing in yourself, tapping the resources you need, and taking responsibility for how those resources are used. Far from a get-rich-quick primer, The Wealth Cure brims with inspired wisdom for building a lasting bounty from the experiences, loved ones, and achievements that really matter.

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REVIEWS

Source: Kirkus Reviews; 8/15/2011, Vol. 79 Issue 16, p1432-1432, 1/3p.

Simple, inspirational pointers on how to manage money and discover the true meaning of wealth.

After being diagnosed with thyroid cancer, Harper (Letters to a Young Brother, 2007, etc.) boarded a train for a meditative, cross-country journey. Along the way, he encountered a number of fellow passengers who inspired him. Here he recounts their stories, alongside his own journey and a few resonant history lessons. All this combines to provide readers insight into what it means to be wealthy in contemporary America. Despite adding his own practical tips on how to manage finances, from prioritizing spending to the pitfalls of credit cards, the author encourages others to seek out wealth beyond money--in relationships, in health and in pursuing one's passions. He defers to his uncle on this point: "If you are making any decision solely based on money, then it's the wrong decision." It's a motto Harper has applied to his own life; the author, who earned a law degree from Harvard and stars in the TV series CSI:NY, writes extensively about his decision to act instead of practice law. Although much of the advice is useful and has practical applications, his writing abounds with clichés and often feels stilted--but it's not without its merits. The strongest parts are the historical biographies, including those of Pullman Porters and the "Real McCoy." In the end, the author underwent a successful surgery and remains cancer-free.

Money helps, but it's not a panacea. Harper demonstrates how redefining wealth can make readers all the richer.
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Source: Library Journal; 8/1/2011, Vol. 136 Issue 13, p106-106, 1/6p.

When personal health is compromised, it naturally prompts a reevaluation of life goals. This is the impetus and concept behind CSI: NY actor Harper's ( Letters to a Young Brother ) latest work. With happiness as a new priority, he investigates how to free oneself from the chains of materialism and the quest for wealth to focus on more important objectives such as personal satisfaction. To cure the sometimes frenetic pursuit of wealth, Harper successfully applies the regimen that was used to treat his illness: diagnose, treat, comply, maintain, thrive. He provides tangible ways for people to prioritize their own goals and refocus their lives. VERDICT While some of the author's anecdotes make one wonder whether he truly comprehends the position of privilege from which he speaks, his pragmatic advice would be generally beneficial to society. A comparable work is Laura Rowley's Money and Happiness: A Guide To Living the Good Life . This is an inspirational read for those interested in financial self-help and freedom, with a little celebrity autobiography sprinkled in. [See Prepub Alert, 3/21/11.]

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By Poppy Johnson-Renvall, Central New Mexico Community Coll. Lib., Albuquerque
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Source: Booklist; 7/1/2011, Vol. 107 Issue 21, p22, 1p.

We are programmed to believe that money and acquisition are our keys to happiness, success,and well-being. But the national debt crisis has exposed how the detrimental effects of materialism and the pursuit of money have caused us to have unbalanced relationships with ourselves and others. Harper, an NAACP Award winner, best-selling author, and star of CSI: NY, was forced to reevaluate his ideas
about wealth after the shock of being diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Through a series of stories about family, friends, and his experience in coming to terms with his diagnosis, he takes the reader on a journey to examine the sources of true happiness while giving practical advice for getting one’s financial house in order and achieving greater peace of mind and a commitment to higher goals. While most books on finance treat the subject as simply a set of rules to follow, Harper looks more deeply into how to build a healthy financial foundation while maintaining greater perspective on the values and relationships that are really important in
life.
—David Siegfried
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Source: USA Today; 10/24/2011.

In his new book, The Wealth Cure: Putting Money In Its Place, Hill Harper takes you on several journeys -- a train ride from Los Angeles to Chicago, an introspective look at life as he deals with a cancer diagnosis, and a spiritual quest to explore the true meaning of wealth. Along the way, the CSI: NY star offers advice about money management -- and life -- seducing readers with raw, even painful, honesty about himself.

This combination of personal reflection and practical information is part of what has earned Harper a spot on The New York Times Best Sellers list with three previous books.

Early in The Wealth Cure, he hangs out with a friend who spends so much at a nightclub that the author thinks of "how many school uniforms, musical instruments, or computers that money could have provided. This type of conspicuous consumption bothers me especially when it's obvious that a lot of this floss is more than likely covering up a deeper insecurity that spending money isn't about to fix."

That quote is our first cue that this is a different kind of financial book, one that not only urges us to look at how we use our money but also at how we define wealth. It's as much about personal philosophy as about advice on building a solid financial future.

A pensive three-day train ride from Los Angeles to Chicago comes after an endocrinologist's proclamation: "Hill, we believe you have thyroid cancer the worst kind." On the journey he works on this book, mixing his research and advice from financial experts with real life experiences of people he meets on the train.

"True happiness," says Harper, "is having our life balanced and organized so we are free to pursue any dream."

He approaches building wealth using the same method he believes he must use to rebuild his health. Readers are led through a series of questions to help them diagnose their financial situation, then offered treatment options. To help readers stick with the plan, Harper delves into our habits and his. He offers advice such as how to clean up your credit score and the importance of shifting your attitude from one in which decisions are made based on fear to one where the focus is on gratefulness.

Harper has a knack for showing his humanity and thus making our mistakes seem normal and surmountable. Like many people, he uses affirmations and he gives us examples: "I am a great investor of my time and my money; I am confident that I will reach my goals."

He arrives in Chicago to discover life's circumstances have improved greatly for the friend he had come to check on. On the trip, Harper has taken inventory of his own life.

"I realized that the two biggest happiness stealers in my life are the areas of health and debt," he notes. To give happiness a better chance, Harper lives by certain "Wealth Factors," including being credit-card debt-free and continuing to act in and create projects that uplift, inspire and entertain.

The epilogue assures us that Harper's thyroid was successfully removed. There was no lasting damage to his voice, and his journey inside himself seems to have led him to a brighter plateau.