Book Review- The Spellbinder's Gift
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| The Spellbinders Gift |
| ★★★★★ |
Title: The Spellbinders Gift
Author: Og Mandino
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Year Published: Originally, 1994
Genre: Fiction, Inspirational, Self Help
Format: Physical book
So why, one morning, did he find himself headed back to the little office that he had never given up? He didn't know. But as he sat at his dusty desk, he decided to go back into business. If God had sent him there, Bart told himself, he would wait for His plan to unfold.
Then, at a crowded convention, he found his answer, in the person of a handsome young man named Patrick Donne, whose deep, commanding voice spoke words of profound wisdom that electrified the audience. With the thrill of discovery, Bart recognized Donne's short speech as the best inspirational talk he had ever heard. Bart was soon caught up in the extraordinary realm that was Patrick's ordinary world, where even tragedy and sorrow became transforming experiences and remarkable things happened. . . .
As I mentioned in my Twelfth Angel review, these books by Og were lent to me by my Mother-In-Law to read, since Og is her favorite author. They are meant to be inspirational stories, however they are pretty simple.
I didn't care for this book nearly as much of Twelfth Angel. It took me way longer to get through it, and there wasn't any point where I felt like there was a clear message of what the book was.
To recap briefly, Bart is in retirement from managing inspirational speakers. Just to insert, I find this being a viable profession kind of weird. Something in the grand universe led Bart back out of retirement for one reason or another. The first step to managing inspirational speakers is to have employees to manage. While at a conference, Bart finds his guy. A young man from Montana that inherited a farm but felt like he was better suited to spreading inspiration to others. In the end, Patrick passes away but the impact he had and the way he lived his life sparked change in others.
The pacing in this story was pretty slow, specifically towards the beginning. It started picking up a little towards the end, however I didn't feel like it was a satisfying story. A big part of that, for me, was that I couldn't tell what the message was, so I didn't feel connected. Bart nor Patrick felt like characters we were really getting anything from. Outside of a trip of memory lane of the 90's and a brief glimpse into the world of managing public speaking there just wasn't anything to the story.
I would not recommend this book to others as a self help or inspirational book. I'm sure there are plenty of other people out there that may have found more in Og's story than I did. I would be interested in checking out least one other story by him to see if it's just that this book was a fluke for me and he's actually pretty good or if Twelfth Angel is the only book of his I'd like.
Synopsis:
In his long and successful career as an agent to many of the most famous and dynamic motivational speakers in the world, Bart Manning had no peer. But when a series of misfortunes silenced the voices of his star clients, he happily retired. He'd had his last innings, and with his lovely wife, Mary, was enjoying his newfound freedom.So why, one morning, did he find himself headed back to the little office that he had never given up? He didn't know. But as he sat at his dusty desk, he decided to go back into business. If God had sent him there, Bart told himself, he would wait for His plan to unfold.
Then, at a crowded convention, he found his answer, in the person of a handsome young man named Patrick Donne, whose deep, commanding voice spoke words of profound wisdom that electrified the audience. With the thrill of discovery, Bart recognized Donne's short speech as the best inspirational talk he had ever heard. Bart was soon caught up in the extraordinary realm that was Patrick's ordinary world, where even tragedy and sorrow became transforming experiences and remarkable things happened. . . .
Review*:
As I mentioned in my Twelfth Angel review, these books by Og were lent to me by my Mother-In-Law to read, since Og is her favorite author. They are meant to be inspirational stories, however they are pretty simple.
I didn't care for this book nearly as much of Twelfth Angel. It took me way longer to get through it, and there wasn't any point where I felt like there was a clear message of what the book was.
To recap briefly, Bart is in retirement from managing inspirational speakers. Just to insert, I find this being a viable profession kind of weird. Something in the grand universe led Bart back out of retirement for one reason or another. The first step to managing inspirational speakers is to have employees to manage. While at a conference, Bart finds his guy. A young man from Montana that inherited a farm but felt like he was better suited to spreading inspiration to others. In the end, Patrick passes away but the impact he had and the way he lived his life sparked change in others.
The pacing in this story was pretty slow, specifically towards the beginning. It started picking up a little towards the end, however I didn't feel like it was a satisfying story. A big part of that, for me, was that I couldn't tell what the message was, so I didn't feel connected. Bart nor Patrick felt like characters we were really getting anything from. Outside of a trip of memory lane of the 90's and a brief glimpse into the world of managing public speaking there just wasn't anything to the story.
I would not recommend this book to others as a self help or inspirational book. I'm sure there are plenty of other people out there that may have found more in Og's story than I did. I would be interested in checking out least one other story by him to see if it's just that this book was a fluke for me and he's actually pretty good or if Twelfth Angel is the only book of his I'd like.
*This section may contain spoilers.
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