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    Survival Lessons
    Survival Lessons
    Survival Lessons
    Ebook79 pages36 minutes

    Survival Lessons

    By Alice Hoffman

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    The New York Times–bestselling author and cancer survivor tells how to hold on to joy in times of sorrow in this “absolutely beautiful book” (Sue Monk Kidd).
     
    The prize-winning author of such modern literary classics as Practical Magic, The World That We Knew, and The Marriage of Opposites, Alice Hoffman is also a cancer survivor. In Survival Lessons, she shares her transformative journey, showing us how to re-envision our own lives and relationships with our friends and family, and the significance of the everyday choices we make.
     
    Sorrow and joy are both part of the human experience, and the beauty of the world is easy to overlook during periods of crisis, illness, or loss. Here, Hoffman offers wit, wisdom, and comfort in “an optimistic instruction manual [for] anyone struggling with self-care in a time of trouble” (Story Circle Book Reviews).
     
    “In this gem of a book, Alice Hoffman acknowledges the sorrows of life, while reminding us of its joys. Survival Lessons is filled with love, insight, and lots of practical advice—including a crazy-good brownie recipe.” —Will Schwalbe, New York Times–bestselling author of The End of Your Life Book Club
     
    “Hoffman’s storytelling artistry enlivens each intimate, thoughtfully distilled, charming, and nurturing lesson in living.” —Booklist
     
    “[Survival Lessons] is not about [Hoffman’s] breast cancer per se but about making choices that will improve readers’ lives and relationships and remind them ‘of the beauty of life.’” —Library Journal
     
    “Full of smart intentions and kind reminders . . . Uplifting advice we’ll gladly take.” —Better Homes & Gardens
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Media
    Release dateAug 18, 2020
    ISBN9781504064545
    Author

    Alice Hoffman

    Alice Hoffman is the author of more than thirty works of fiction, including The Book of Magic, Magic Lessons, The World That We Knew, Practical Magic, The Rules of Magic (a Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick), the Oprah’s Book Club Selection Here on Earth, The Red Garden, The Dovekeepers, The Museum of Extraordinary Things, The Marriage of Opposites, and Faithful. She lives near Boston.

    Read more from Alice Hoffman

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    Reviews for Survival Lessons

    4/5

    97 ratings16 reviews

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    • 3/5
      As a reader who generally likes self-help books that focus on positive thinking and overcoming obstacles, I was surprised when I finished this lean volume thinking, "Now that's a couple hours I'll never get back." Please don't misinterpret my comments as being insensitive to Hoffman's health challenges. I have great respect and admiration for the author. But "Survival Lessons" didn't present any remotely unique concepts for weathering life's unfortunate twists. When I read a self-help book, I make it a point to write down some highlights that I want to remember. Sadly, I didn't take a single note for the book. Still, it's a well-written narrative. This factor figures into my overall rating.
    • 3/5
      Sensible advice for living life to the fullest.
    • 4/5
      Quick easy read. Simple, refreshing, funny way to manage life's curve-balls, specifically in this situation, Alice Hoffman's crisis with breast cancer. It was good..
    • 5/5
      I think this book is amazing, and a book that everyone should read, at whatever age and whatever their situation. It is a book about hope, about living your life to the fullest, taking time for what is important. Taking time for yourself, and to do the things you will always dreamed of doing. I felt so inspired after reading this book, to go out there and do all those things I have been putting off.A few quotes from the book that I really liked:"Make time for old friends. Get a group of your favorite people together and rent a room at a hotel. Order room service, watch movies, dance until the management starts to get complaints from other guests. Go to a spa together or make pizza from scratch.""Watch every old movie you've always wanted to see. Fall in love with Clark Gable. Watch comedies that involve bridesmaids, pretty women, men at bachelor parties, teenagers and hot tubs, and anything with Bill Murray.""Don't forget books. What would life be without them? Emily Bronte, Edgar Allen Poe, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Toni Morrison, Jane Austen, William Faulkner. Read the greats - they're great for a reason.""In my family, a book was a life raft"I hope that you will read this book, and share it with people you love. I know that I did.
    • 5/5
      My husband always says that courage is not the absence of fear but rather the being afraid and doing what needs doing anyway (he's a former Marine and war vet). This also describes the theme of _Survival Lessons_. It gives the permission and the reminder to do that which needs doing anyway. Author Alice Hoffman writes about what she learned in her own personal battle with breast cancer. In typical Hoffman style, it will make you laugh, and cry and think over the really important and special moments that make up a life. Written as personal musings and inspiration, it is warm and heartfelt; lessons for when the Totally Big Bad Bogey Man has yanked the rug out from under you. While meant for cancer patients and others with terminal illness, this is a book for anyone facing a B.I.G. challenge. I also see this as a perfect read for any milestone birthday - I intend to make reading it an annual event for mine. Excellent.
    • 4/5
      I received this from Early Reviewers. It was not what I expected as I am a big Fan of Alice Hoffman's books. Once I was over the surprise that this was a personal writing from Alice and it was about her personal struggles with illness, I liked her even more! Its a short read, but has good depth and got me thinking about my own life and really how appreciative she is alive and not just a shadow name printed on the books I read. Thank you Alice for all that you are and all that you do!
    • 5/5
      This is a short book - less than 100 pages, one that you can easily finish in an hour. But read it slowly, because it's packed with some gems that will help you get through difficult times. Although many of the common complaints have been that the advice is this book is too trite, I find that when things look their bleakest, it's best to fall back on simple strategies and common sense. Surround yourself with people you enjoy, do things you love, and relish the natural beauty of our world. This book was direct, touching and honest and made me cry in a few places. Great gift for a friend who might need comfort.'Life is beautiful, just very unfair.'
    • 4/5
      This is an easy, quick read that is perfect for someone going through a tough time. It is filled with advice to get you through. There is nothing really earth shattering or new, but it is written in a fun and thoughtful way. It is interesting to get more perspective on Alice Hoffman because I have been a fan of her novels for quite awhile without knowing much about her personal life. I would recommend this book, although you will probably get more out of it if you are in a difficult situation when you read it. It is geared toward people with illnesses especially.
    • 4/5
      This is a lovely little book, great for somebody who is going through a difficult patch in their lives. The book is small, so it might fit in a purse or a bag to be taken on a bus or a trip to the doctor's. The chapters are short so that you can read them while you're in the waiting room at a hospital, a doctor's office or an attorney's office. Best of all, her advice reminds you that you're not the only one in the world who has gone through what you're going through right now. Others have survived, and they have advice for you so that you can also survive. How terrific is that?
    • 5/5
      I was expecting "Survival Lessons" to be one of those pleasant, "I love you" books that you give to friends who are going through difficult things. I wasn't prepared for a lot of insightful, compassionate truth. Though Hoffman's initial crisis was breast cancer (and later the death of her mother), I could find myself agreeing with her and helped by her through the crises I've gone through, as well. It made me think that perhaps the crisis itself wasn't what's important for us to deal with, but to use it as a means to get to know and love ourselves and those around us more than we did before.It's well written, tight but also open-hearted and utterly compassionate. I'm getting copies for all the women I love for Christmas. I want to say, "This--this is how we do it." The deaths of our mothers and fathers, the health events that are inevitable in life, the things that shake you to your core--Hoffman teaches her readers other ways to look at it all and find, in the process, so much more about ourselves.
    • 2/5
      I thought this book was a total waste. I am not so hard hearted that I don't feel sympathy for Alice Hoffman and her cancer. And of course the cumulative losses as we age are difficult to bear. However, this book told me nothing new and really seemed like a way for the author to use her name and reputation to make a buck. The size and appearance of the book will make it an easy purchase for a friend or relative who is facing one of life's challenges. I can see it being slipped into a gift basket for a hospital patient or grieving friend - you get the picture.Alice Hoffman is a good writer. I have enjoyed some of her previous books. But this one is a real disappointment.
    • 5/5
      "Survival Lessons" by Alice Hoffman is a lovely, little book. It's a short read, but complete. Each word seems to have been chosen with great care.Alice Hoffman shares what she has learned as a survivor of cancer.She said that she wrote this book because she could find no such book when she needed it most. This book offers heartfelt advice on how to live a full and meaningful life in the here and now. Her suggestions on how to take life's sorrows and turn them into life lessons are spot on. The greatest message I took from this book is to live life like you have no tomorrow. Not recklessly, but with joy. I also took from this book the idea that you should not procrastinate when it comes to doing what would most bring you joy.
    • 5/5
      Sparse and lyrical, this book feels like a late winter afternoon visit with a wise friend. The focus here is not on the sorrow of life, but the cultivation of joy that can and must co-exist with heartache and fear. I instantly thought of several family members and friends with whom I will share this book. 'Live Now' is the message here - cozily expressed with personal anecdotes, advice, and a couple of recipes. I closed this book warmed, hopeful, and renewed in my intention to fully live.
    • 4/5
      Practical and helpful. The author unsuccessfully looked for a book like this as she was battling cancer, now as a survivor she has written the book that she was looking for. A small book that doesn’t require a lot of energy to hold, with very short chapters that are quick reads, makes this book manageable for someone with health issues. Each chapter is a reminder to make choices that are good for you. Having choices means that you do have control at a time when things may seem out of control and choosing to look for beauty and joy and friendship is good for the soul.
    • 5/5
      My only complaint about this book is it is too short! I wanted to keep hearing more simple, kind, passionate, soothing wisdom from this beautiful lady. What a wonderful combination of humor, insight and the simple reality that life can be hard and very, very unfair. Despite that, she offers little tidbits (and a couple recipes and a knitting project) to make better decisions and choices when tragedy hits us and/or our loved ones. Having lost my best friend to ovarian cancer and recently, the death of my dog and dearest companion of 16 years, the advice was good. And true. Read it for a little pick me up or when "whoa is me" hits. It will help. It truly will. Life is short and can never have too much advice leading us to what is important. This is a VERY tiny book and can easily be read in an afternoon. Highly recommended.
    • 5/5
      Great book about overcoming. I am not the self help type but I loved this.

    Book preview

    Survival Lessons - Alice Hoffman

    Survival Lessons

    Alice Hoffman

    Contents

    Preface

    Choose Your Heroes

    Choose to Enjoy Yourself

    Choose Your Friends

    Choose Your Relatives

    Choose How You Spend Your Time

    Choose to Plan for the Future

    Choose to Love Who You Are

    Choose to Accept Sorrow

    Choose to Dream

    Choose Something New

    Choose to Give in to Yourself

    Choose to Make Things Beautiful

    Choose to Tell Your Own Story

    Choose to Forgive

    Choose to Claim Your Past

    Choose to Be Yourself

    Choose to Share

    Choose Love

    Choose the Evidence

    About the Author

    Preface

    When I found the lump I was convinced I had imagined it. These things didn’t happen to me.

    True, bad things happened around me. My mother was undergoing treatment for breast cancer. My sister-in-law had just lost her battle with brain cancer. Several relatives and friends were seriously ill. But, still, these things didn’t happen to me. I was not someone who got cancer. In fact, I was the person who sat by bedsides, accompanied friends to doctor’s appointments, researched family members’ diseases until I became an expert, went to meetings with lawyers when divorce was the only option, found therapists for depressed teenagers, bought plots at cemeteries, arranged funerals, babysat children and pets.

    But as it turned out, I was also the one with cancer.

    I did my best to pretend it wasn’t so. I was busy after all, the mother of two young sons, caring for my ill mother, involved in my writing. My most recent novel, Here on Earth, had been chosen as an Oprah’s Book Club selection; an earlier novel, Practical Magic, was being filmed in California with Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. I didn’t have time to be ill.

    Now I know you can’t run away by ignoring the truth. Truth follows you; it comes in through open windows and drifts under doors. I went for a biopsy, convinced I was fine. Days later my doctor phoned me and said, Alice, I’m sorry. Then I knew. Good fortune and bad luck are always tied together with invisible, unbreakable thread. It happens to everyone, in one way or another, sooner or later. The loss of a loved one, a divorce, heartbreak, a child set on the wrong path, a bad diagnosis. When it comes to sorrow, no one is immune.

    I’ve always believed there is a very thin line that separates readers and writers. You make a leap over that line when there’s a book you want to read and you can’t find it and you have to write it yourself. All the while I was in treatment I was looking for a guidebook. I needed help in my new situation. I needed to know how people survived trauma.

    It took all this time for me to figure out what I would have most wanted to hear when I was newly

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