book about leadership

I was very excited to have the opportunity to read & review this book. Being a knitter & crocheter, I often make blankets for charity - usually for people in nursing homes, or pets in animal shelters. Last fall I made about 30 hats & a few scarves for a group collecting woolies for homeless vets. Ever since then, I've been thinking about doing more for the homeless. Sure, I have made hats in the past for them, but certainly not like I do the lapghans. I wasn't really sure what to expect about this book, but I was definitely interested from the get go.

This book was not one of those books where you sit down & devour over the course of one long afternoon. I read the book daily, usually a few minutes here & there and longer periods maybe once a week. I read it in small portions, so that I could really think about what Yankoski was writing about. The faster I read a book, the less I actually "think" about it, and I knew that I wanted to get "something" out of Under The Overpass.

Was I moved reading this book? Definitely. This is an experience few would volunteer to undertake, and I think Mike & his friend Sam were lucky to survive as well as they did. Sure, they met interesting characters, and this experience changed their life forever. Did it change my life? Well... for the moment, anyway. One of my New Year's goals was to make 24 hats for the homeless. Sure, that's not a lot... but that's 24 warmer bodies if I succeed. If I had more money, more time, would I want to do more? Sure, you bet. Will I end up volunteering at a homeless shelter, or a food kitchen? I'd love to say yes, because the book did move me that much, and I did learn a lot, but no, I probably won't end up doing those things.

This is not an easy book to read, but it is a book you should read. ( )

Finished this book wondering if I might have gotten more out of this book then the author??

Ok, maybe that's being slightly self-righteous, but this book was pretty much a warm feeling-cold feeling (love and hate being too strong of terms) experience for me, with Mike Yankoski = cold feeling and idea = warm feeling; that's probably a bit too harsh too.

I recognize that humans are, even when they have the best of intentions, flawed, so since Yankoski wasn't inspired to write the next book of the Bible, I should probably cut him some slack, but then I have to think "where is all the money from this book going?" to another middle class guy who just happens to notice homeless people? He's using his experience with homeless people to make money?

Maybe he just needed some time to let the whole experience ferment a little more, but the end of the book didn't show him very inspired. Did he learn anything, except maybe that he doesn't want to end up homeless? It's not that I want to pigeon-hole him as "the homeless guy", but he wrote a book on the subject, thus claiming some kind of authority on the subject; so shouldn't he be doing something? ( )

The idea behind this book is noble, but from my work with the homeless I don't think it is realistic. Yes, perhaps the way they were treated sometimes, but unless the authors can experience mental illness, addiction, abuse and other issues, they will never really be able to know. However, kudos to them for making much more of an effort than most people. Anything that brings positive awareness to the homeless and advocates for change is good. ( )

http://thelittlemaninchina.wordpress.com/2011/02/08/book-review-under-the-overpa... ( )