Overtly Macho and Based, but Fairly Wise

This book is about what you'd expect from a persona like Gene Simmons has. It begins with the usual account in his books of his humble upbringing and determined rise to fame, which is respectable and admirable, yet overplayed in his publications.

Upon establishing the groundwork with his life story, Simmons then moves to the premise of the book: how we all supposedly want increasing amounts of worldly success. He references other forms of philosophy and psychology - even the stories of other successful celebrities - to justify why all humans will innately follow the primal urges of "Get things, avoid pain, use sex and aggression, etc." if we are to be satisfied with our lives. I acknowledge that these are the means and methods of baser forms of human thought, but they are hardly the height of human potential, therefore not everybody is willing to use such means in their pursuit of success and excellence, nor is everybody even driven to pursue great deals of worldly success, even in the healthiest of mindsets.

All that said, this is a book centered around greed. Human beings do have wants and needs, and even if this book is informative of the ways to satisfy those wants and needs in the world we have today, it effectively helps to keep us in lower mindsets that are not the most wise for the whole of human progress. We're not necessarily meant to be soft and free of ambition, but we're not necessarily doing our best if we're just acting like sophisticated savages.

(And to be clear, I'm a longtime KISS fan. I've met Gene in person, and seen him live three times.)

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1 person found this helpful

Great book on power!

Thank you Gene for writing this great book. I learned a lot about being relentless and how to overcome adversity. We are not that far away from Nico Machiavellian times, and you made me realize this.

Your book is a must read for all and I highly recommend it!

Thank you

With love and gratitude
Kyle Ferguson

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