In Review

09 January 2009 12:18 BST

Five Wishes by Gay Hendricks

Published by Penguin, out February 7th, hardback, 149 pages, £12.99.

In a nutshell…

Attention-grabbing. Concise. Presumptuous. Thought-provoking. Frustrating.

What's it all about?

Gay Hendricks tells readers of a conversation he had at a party in which he was told to imagine he was on his deathbed and ask himself if his life had been a complete success. Answering no, he was then invited to come up with the five wishes he would have asked to be completed to make his life complete.

He explains that this conversation changed his life forever and notes how he achieved his five dreams, inviting the reader to work out their own wishes and attempts to show them how to achieve these goals.

Who's it by?

Gay Hendricks is the co-founder of the Hendricks Institute, a learning centre which claims to teach "core skills for conscious living" and aims to to create a worldwide community of people.

His latest project is the Illumination University, where teachers from around the world take part in telegatherings and cybercourses.

Previous books include At The Speed Of Life, Learning To Love Yourself and You've Got To Read This Book (with Jack Canfield).

He lives and works with his wife Kathlyn in Ojai, California.

As an example...

"My intention is to give you full access to this healing power. I want to show you the process and how to use it, so you can make all your dreams come true."

Likelihood of becoming a Hollywood blockbuster

A 17-minute film based on the book has already been made and is available to view for free online.

What the others say

"This short, focused book shows readers how to discover their own five wishes for a fulfilled life. Neale Donald Walsch's thoughtful foreword explores the power of this approach and explains why he insisted Hendricks share it with others."- Amazon

So is it any good?

Five Wishes has a compelling opening. So compelling, in fact, that I couldn't wait to find out how I was going to change my life forever as a result of 'eavesdropping' on Hendrick's conversation with Ed Steinbrecher. And maybe it was the fact that this was the first self-help book I've ever read, but I found myself getting drawn into the story and ended up working out my own five wishes. Whether I'll act on them is another matter.

However, my main problem with the book, one which recurred as I read, is the feeling that it's a 160-page long advert for the Hendricks Institution. There were also a few too many convenient occurrences of what appeared to be divine intervention in Hendrick's achievement of his own goals for my (perhaps too-cynical) psyche to cope with.

6/10

John Brunskill