A Life of One's Own: A Guide to Original Living Through the Work and Wisdom of Virginia Woolf

This is a book that reads quickly and smoothly. Thirteen short chapters touch briefly on a life lesson. My mind slipped easily into Virginia's pocket of time finding fresh approaches to increase individual potential. What a joy that Virginia's life is not defined nor her legacy destroyed by her suicide. The author Ilana Simons' writing successfully challenges the reader to embrace/endure one's beauty and shortcomings as a guide to better living. Well worth your precious moments of being to read!

Despite the fact that I am fairly unfamiliar with Virginia Woolf's work, I really enjoyed this book. The author explains what Woolf's perspective on life is through examples of Woolf's life experiences and with comparative examples of the reality of the world we all live in today. The book is a great blend of philiosophy, physcology and literature. Its a rewarding read that will make you re-evaluate your own self-image and perspective of the world around you.

This book is a wonderful companion to Alain de Bottons's "How Proust Can Change Your Life." It's intelligent, insightful, and terrifically well-written: a delight. The afternoon I spent reading it was one of the most enjoyable I've spent in the past few months. Ilana Simons manages to succeed in what would seem to be the impossible: making as unlikely a prospect as Virigina Woolf a guide to the good life.