THE UP SIDE OF DOWN Why Failing Well Is the Key to Success

Mia Barron’s tone, enunciation, and phrasing are a good fit for the assertive writing that makes this book so interesting. McArdle says that failures can open doors to creative breakthroughs as long as those who fail have the opportunity to reflect on what they’ve learned and continue to move forward with their ideas. “We should stop spending so much energy trying to avoid failure or engineering it away,” she says. The sardonic edge to some of Barron’s performance mostly serves to forward these arguments but periodically makes the author’s message sound confrontational. With enlightening insights about the way we accept or punish failure and engaging human stories, this is a fast moving must-hear audio for anyone interested in the psychology of risk-taking. T.W. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine [Published: APRIL 2014]