DON'T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF WITH YOUR FAMILY

Richard Carlson discusses the basic tools family members, and especially parents, need to stay balanced throughout the roller-coaster ride of family interaction. Carlson's narration conveys an important sense of harmony and peacefulness that busy parents will appreciate and learn from. For these parents, Carlson is the master of setting family priorities. However, parents already comfortable with the way they are maintaining their family ties may find Carlson's tone and inflection borderline condescending in his statement of the obvious. Carlson's illustrative anecdotes, which to some may be informative, might strike the listener as impersonal and humorless. Carlson has important ideas and advice to convey to struggling or frantic families, but his overly relaxed style isn't genuine and leaves the listener cold. H.L.S. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/NOV 98]