D. Anthony (no biographical information is provided) illustrates through analogies how we come to accept our limitations. He then discusses a test of the perceptions of two people about luck which shows how attitude affects expectations, commitment, awareness of opportunities and ultimately results. I found this convincing. I also appreciated the little exercises--saying hello to five strangers, giving yourself a gift of something you ordinarily wouldn't take time to enjoy, saying "thank you" to the person who is most important to you in life, etc—some of his little epigrams—"Stress is nothing less than this life's express to the next."—and his unabashed devotion to his now deceased mother. What I didn't care for was the rather simplistic poetry meant to reinforce the prose message. To me it was little better than syrupy, rhyming, mini-sermons that trivialized the book's message. In fairness, some readers will probably cut these out and post them on their refrigerators. Whatever works!

And just when I began to fear suffocation by feel-good frenzy, I was re-grounded by essays like the one where he makes a collection call to an elderly man who had gone blind and another that offers an excellent perspective on our unaccountable need to feel someone else is doing even worse than we are ("It suggests that when we go into our familiar 'winners and losers' mind set, we may actually lose regardless of whether we finish first or last.") In fact there are strong passages that show the power of positive attitude may not always be enough—for example, the author tries to help a fellow worker who feels unappreciated in her job. "Just to be clear, in no way do I mean to suggest every problem is insignificant or imagined. The reality is that no matter the spiral of choice and no matter who we are or what we do, every once in a while, a serious issue is going to find us. Someway and somehow, every so often life is going to manage to get a good punch in… My theory is that the way we feel is about 15-20 percent circumstance and 80-85 percent perspective. If we alter our perspective, we can't help but change or live." That's the practical voice of someone I can listen to.

"The Nurse in the Delivery Room Slapped Me…Once" is a conversational presentation that is easy to read, easy to understand, easy to put into practice. A nice present for yourself. Or a great gift for someone who considers you to be important to his or her life.