Bloomsbury USA
Available: 03/05/07
6.13 x 9.25 · 320 pages
978-1-58234-584-0 CDN $27.95 · cl

Canadian Title

U-Turn

What If You Woke Up One Morning and Realized You Were Living the Wrong Life?

Bruce Grierson

Po Bronson meets Malcolm Gladwell in this captivating look at the science and psychology behind major midlife U-turns.

Every day, somewhere in the world, the “second brain” goes off in the gut of some unsuspecting citizen. This 10-billion nerve knot tells that person their life must change—and on moral, or at least deeply personal, grounds they jump the gap.

Canadian author Bruce Grierson draws on more than 300 stories of U-turners, including famous cases from Gandhi and Gauguin to George Bush and George Foreman, and a host of others.

What is the nature of this wake-up call that can change lives so completely and make people stand so suddenly against something today that they stood for yesterday? Who does it happen to, and is it a good thing? In chapters profiling the potential U-turner, the neuroscience behind the eureka moment and the possibility of igniting an epiphany, Grierson blends examples with analysis. He suggests we may all share something with these U-turners. He asks the reader: are we living in a way consistent with our value system? And what would it take to get us to go all the way and cross the floor?

Bruce Grierson (Vancouver) has been nominated for eight Canadian National Magazine awards and is the co-author of Culture Jam.