U-Turn: What If You Woke Up One Morning and Realized You Were Living the Wrong Life?

by Bruce Grierson

Every day, in almost every field, someone perceives themselves to be on the wrong side of a psychic divide. The "second brain" in their gut tells them their life must change. Bruce Grierson draws on over 300 hundred stories of u-turners, including famous cases like Gandhi and Gauguin as well as a host of other gripping tales of people who have risked everything to answer life's wake-up people who change political parties and careers, people give up their jobs as doctors to become poets, men who become women, professional athletes who quit to spend more time with their families, mothers who quit their families to pursue careers, people who suddenly become revolutionaries for a cause they didn't care about the day before.

Grierson examines the u-turn from all angles―philosophical, scientific, literary and psychological―beginning with premise that the wake-up call is the secular equivalent of the religious epiphany, the moment when a person is "born again." When does the wake-up call happen? Often in mid-life, but not always. Is it a good thing? Yes and no. Who does it happen to? Potentially any of us, under the right circumstance. Is America ready for a mass u-turn? Maybe. In chapters that address everything from the neuroscience behind epiphanies (the eureka moment) to the possibility of "forcing" a u-turn, Grierson brilliantly describes and elucidates this powerful, mysterious phenomenon, and in doing so illuminates all or our continual struggles with life choices and identity.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Psychology

352 pages, Hardcover

First published April 3, 2007

Reviews

[Jeremy Preacher · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was much more excited about this book from the first ten pages than it turned out to deserve. While there were a lot of interesting anecdotes about people who made drastic changes in their lives, there really didn't seem to be a cohesive thesis or any strong conclusion - basically, he seemed to be saying that sometimes people change things up and it's usually complicated. Not exactly the most profound insight - it really would have made a great Salon.com article, but it was a pretty mediocre book.

[Judi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn't finish it, actually. it was entertaining for about 20 pages. Then I lost interest.

[Kari · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a bit torn on what I thought of this book. It was more academic than I was anticipating. So, that might have been the first problem. My expectations weren't lined up with what I was reading. The author appears to have had an upbringing that included the Christian faith (he uses his grandfather's conversion experience as an example of a U-Turn at the beginning of the book), but he did tend to downplay the role of faith in our lives and to sit it either side-by-side or even below secular u-turns. I thought he went around in circles a bit, and even after finishing it, I'm not sure I can articulate his overall point.

Having said all that, I enjoyed reading about people, from all walks of life and trains of thought, who had made u-turns. Those were the best portions of the book. I wish he he would have developed those more. Overall, I'm glad I read it, but I'm also glad I finished it so I can move on.

[Elaine Meszaros · Rating 3 out of 5]

The epically long title of this books reflects the equally massive amount of information in this book. A hair under 300 pages it manages to pack in a dense, and truly fascinating, amount of information. A u-turner is someone who makes a radical change in their life - often swinging 180 degrees to a full polar opposite of their former beliefs. Many of the u-turners switch on strong stances as religion - becoming Christian on a walk, leaving Evangelicalism to become an atheist writer. Some swing wildly on politics - one day an ardent Republican, the next writing screes against Bush and his ilk. Still others take a less precise tack and simply stop being how they were to become almost another person.

Interspersed with numerous true stories, Grierson talks about the trial by fire u-turners go through. Many lose their jobs, many more lose family members, friends and communities that they have been ensconced in. Despite almost certain loss and pain, the u-tuners interviewed talk about a bedrock certainty that they had to change, no matter what the cost. While many contemplate the change silently for a long time, then change suddenly. Others find a commanding voice telling them, literally out of the blue, to make a change.

Who knows who will make a silent, violent shift in their life? While most of us are, and probably always will be "happy carrots" there may come a day one we suddenly find ourselves compelled to become another, alternate version of ourselves.

[Liz W-P · Rating 3 out of 5]

U-Turn is a pretty good book. It is somewhere in between a typical pop-psych read and a self-help book, but it definitely errs more toward being the former than the latter.
Essentially, U-Turn is a series of anecdotes about people who have drastically changed their lives, punctuated by Grierson's commentary on these shifts: why they happen, when they happen, to whom they happen, and whether they are really as dramatic as they seem at first glance.

[Melanie Jennings · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting book about people who radically changed their lives, mostly after some significant "lightening bolt" experience. The author profiles people like Julia "Butterfly" Hill, the redwood tree sitter, Ray Anderson, the CEO of Interface carpets, and other semi-famous folks who experienced total life paradigm shifts. The concept is fascinating, as are the profiles, but for me there is something lacking in the actual writing. I'm not sure I'll finish this.

[Barb · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm sure if you have a family member or good friend that completely changed their lives and you were having trouble understanding why, this book would be very informative. I did find some of the stories about those who did make a U-Turn very interesting.

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting read. If you've ever considered why some people make mid-life corrections, Grierson researched this concept very well. He puts together a huge list of u-turners who are very fascinating in there own regard.

[Leonardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insightful, and enjoyable, not exactly sure what was the point the author was trying to make regarding u-turns in life, but the stories were entertaining and inspiring anyways.

[Linus Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting look at why people appear to do 180 degree change of life choices.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd almost give this five stars if I weren't so darned stingy with my stars. It covers the subject very well, through both anecdotes and scientific background supporting the stories.

[Teresa Cooper]

this was such a good book that I want to buy it and put it in my library. I think everyone needs to have this book in their personal library. It is a book that makes real good sense.

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

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