Grand, Charles Johnson
Grand, Charles Johnson
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Grand
A Grandparent's Wisdom for a Happy Life

Author: Charles Johnson

Narrator: Ron Butler

Unabridged: 2 hr 50 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/05/2020


Synopsis

National Book Award winner and MacArthur Genius Fellow Charles Johnson reflects on the joys of being a grandparent in this warm, inspiring collection of wisdom and life lessons—the ideal gift for any new parent or grandparent

An award-winning novelist, philosopher, essayist, screenwriter, professor and cartoonist, Charles Johnson has held numerous impressive titles over the course of his incomparable career. Now, for the first time, with his trademark wisdom and philosophical generosity, he turns his attention to his most important role yet: grandparent.

In Grand, Johnson shares stories from his life with his six-year-old grandson, Emery, weaving in advice and life lessons that stand the test of time. “Looking at the problems I see in the world around me,” Johnson writes, “I realize that there are so many things I want to say to him about the goodness and beauty that life offers. What are the perennial truths that I can impart to Emery that might make his journey through life easier or more rewarding?” Johnson shares these truths and more, offering profound meditations on family, race, freedom and creativity.

Joyful, lucid and deeply comforting, Grand is Johnson at his most accessible and profound, an indispensable compendium for new grandparents and growing grandchildren alike, from one of America’s most revered thinkers.

About Charles Johnson

Charles Johnson is a novelist, essayist, literary scholar, philosopher, cartoonist, screenwriter and professor emeritus at the University of Washington in Seattle. A MacArthur Fellow, his fiction includes Night Hawks, Dr. King’s Refrigerator, Dreamer, Faith and the Good Thing and Middle Passage, for which he won the National Book Award. In 2002 he received the Arts and Letters Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He lives in Seattle.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Yesenia

I love books like these, letters to small loved ones. “I wish we could have helped the boy, rather than punish the man. But this is what we call justice, I guess”.......more

Goodreads review by Jeffrey

A nice summation of Johnson's hard-earned life insights. He touches on themes that will be quite familiar to other readers of his essays: Buddhism, Asian martial arts, race, and spiritual practice. Grand serves as a nice introduction to his overall way of thinking, and while dedicated to his grandso......more

I really enjoyed this book. I agreed with most things said and I thought that there was a lot to take away and learn from what what said. I loved the format and how the story and lessons were told. I think that no matter who reads this, they'll be able to learn something from what was shown to us in......more

Goodreads review by Claudia

Ten well-written small chapters in this book are by the notable author Charles Johnson. He depicts what is important and good in life, with a focus on life lessons and kind observations to his grandson on growing up as a black person in America. Most pieces are inspirational and spiritual. I especia......more