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One Family's Decision to Stop Taking and Start Giving Back
by Kevin Salwen
It all started when 14-year old Hannah Salwen, idealistic but troubled by a growing sense of injustice in the world, had a eureka moment when a homeless man in her neighborhood was juxtaposed against a glistening Mercedes coupe. "You know, Dad," she said, pointing, "If that man had a less nice car, that man there could have a meal."
This glaring disparity led the Salwen family of four, caught up like so many other Americans in this age of consumption and waste, to follow Hannah's urge to do something, to finally just do something. And so they embarked on an incredible journey together from which there would be no turning back. They decided to sell their Atlanta mansion, downsize to a house half its size, and give half of their profits to a worthy charity. At first it was an outlandish scheme. “What, are you crazy? No way!" Then it was a challenge. “We are TOTALLY doing this." Each week they met over dinner to discuss their plan. It would transport them across the globe and well out of their comfort zone. Along the way they would inspire so many others wrestling with the same questions: Do I give enough? How much is enough? How can I make an impact in the world? In the end the Salwens' journey would bring them closer as a family, as they discovered, together, that half could be so much more.
Warm, funny, deeply moving and wholly uplifting, The Power of Half is the story of how one family slammed the door
on the status quo and threw away the key.
"Schmaltzy story of a gutsy attempt to make a difference." - Kirkus Reviews
"The authors tend to gush over their efforts while discounting the privileged position that allows them to make them .... their unflagging optimism, buttressed by clear self-regard, can also be tiring." - Publishers Weekly
"A readable, interesting, but syrupy sweet take on philanthropy that will either inspire or irritate readers, depending on their frame of mind." - Library Journal
This information about The Power of Half was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
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Idealism increases in direct proportion to one's distance from the problem.
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