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21 Letters on Life and Its Challenges
21 Letters on Life and Its Challenges
Apr 24, 2025 8:30 PM

Author:Charles Handy

21 Letters on Life and Its Challenges

Charles Handy is one of the giants of contemporary thought. His books on management – including Understanding Organizations and Gods of Management – have changed the way we view business. His work on broader issues and trends – such as Beyond Certainty and The Second Curve – has changed the way we view society.

In his new book, Handy builds on a life's work to glimpse into the future and see what challenges and opportunities the next generation faces. How will people cope with change in a world where the old certainties no longer apply? What goals will and should they set themselves? How will they find purpose and fulfilment in their lives? Clear-eyed and optimistic by turns, he sets out the questions that everyone needs to ask themselves, and points us in the direction of the answers.

Reviews

21 Letters details [Handy's] personal and professional experiences with simplicity and warmth

—— The Sunday Times

A real spikiness alongside his generosity of spirit and openness to new ideas. 21 Letters on Life and Its Challenges takes the form of lessons handed down to his grandchildren – interwoven with touching tributes to his wife. The great tactician is still thinking three hoops ahead.

—— Financial Times

Some of the octogenarian management thinker’s most thought-provoking ideas . . . about how to humanise business, soften capitalism, and live life better.

—— Essential Reads of 2019 , Financial Times

The Attributes is terrific. Rich Diviney has brought world-class experience and deep intelligence to one of the least understood yet crucially important aspects of human performance. If you call yourself 'a leader,' or if you want to call yourself 'a leader,' this book is a must-read!

—— Steven Kotler, New York Times bestselling author and executive director of the Flow Research Collective

Ashley Ambirge is Ryan Gosling-sent proof that you can live life on your own terms, burn up the rule book and do what lights you up. The Middle Finger Project is the instruction manual for people who don't read the manual.

—— Matthew Kimberley, author of Get a F*cking Grip

A hilarious guidebook to reject the status quo and live your unf*ckwithable life. This is the anti-self-help self-help book you’ll be buying for all your friends.

—— Amber Rae, bestselling author of Choose Wonder Over Worry

This book is a reminder that even in our darkest hours we can be resourceful and courageous. Ash reminds us that we are worthy of so much and stronger than we know. Everyone who reads this will be better for it.

—— Cathy Heller, author of Don’t Keep Your Day Job

A voice we must pay attention to, and a must-read for anyone who has never felt good enough (ahem: that’s everyone).

—— Susie Moore, Life Coach and Advice Columnist, author of What if It Does Work Out?

Who the F says you have to be a good girl, ask permission, pay your dues, punch in, clock out, stick with one hair color, live the kind of life where a bean bag is “company culture” and you have to label your yogurt? Whoever says it, Ash Ambirge has a simple reply – and you’ll find yourself raising a finger, too.

—— Laura Belgray, author of Talking Shrimp

Gutsy, bright and filled with the perfect blend of instruction, inspiration and irreverence, this book makes you realize that it really is all possible – even for those of us who've been knocked around in life, don’t fit the “standard mold” and truly despise green juice.

—— Jenny Foss, Founder & CEO of JobJenny.com & LinkedIn Learning Author

Ash’s writing might make you quit your job, start a whole new life, and feel braver than you’ve ever felt before.

—— Jamie Varon, founder of Shatterboxx

A voice of originality in a world with too little of it

—— Seth Godin

Highly recommended

—— Vishen Lakhiani, ‘The Mind Valley Podcast’

Inside the darker side of Instagram

—— EVENING STANDARD

Instagram has reshaped how we eat, shop, talk and present ourselves. In No Filter . . . Sarah Frier offers a rare glimpse into how the company came to be a formidable force in the tech industry.

—— BEST TECH BOOKS OF 2020 , MASHABLE

A lively and revealing account of how the world came to see itself through [Instagram founder] Mr Systrom's lens . . . The tale of nerds who struck gold offers glimpses of Silicon Valley's weirdness.

—— THE ECONOMIST

No Filter offers an engaging account of how tech founders' ideals inevitably have to be squared with making profits.

—— WALL STREET JOURNAL

A fascinating business story - but also much more than that . . . Frier is a skilled reporter and an astute and sensitive cultural observer. No Filter is a vital read for anyone seeking to understand the incredible power Silicon Valley executives exercise over us, and the opaque, unpredictable and undemocratic mechanisms by which they do so.

—— New Statesman

A vivid portrait of clashing Silicon Valley egos

—— Best Books of the Year: Business , Financial Times

Officially, this is the tale of the photo-sharing app Instagram, but it's also a wider story of Silicon Valley - the fragile egos, the feuds, the deals done around fire pits . . . Mark Zuckerberg is the book's sometimes cartoonish villain, ending staff meeting with the cry: "Domination!"

—— Business Books of the Year , SUNDAY TIMES

No Filter is a topical and well-reported account of the rise of Instagram and its takeover by Facebook. But it also tackles two vital issues of our age: how Big Tech treats smaller rivals and how social media companies are shaping the lives of a new generation.

—— Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FINANCIAL TIMES

Bloomberg reporter Sarah Frier chronicles the rise of photo-sharing social network Instagram, from when it was still a location-based app named "Burbn" to the ad-driven juggernaut it is today . . . Frier deftly streamlines from multiple interviews with some of the most high-profile executives, venture capitalists, and most-followed celebrities on Instagram

—— The 10 Best Business Books of 2020 , Fortune

Congressional documents may have told us why Mark Zuckerberg thought he needed to buy Instagram, but No Filter is the inside story of the company that Facebook actually bought. Sarah Frier's book is the definitive account that bridges the gaps between the company Instagram was born as, the company that eventually sold to Facebook for $1 billion, and the company we know today. The intrigue of this origin story will only grow as the status of Instagram - as a brand within Facebook and a player in our daily lives - is sure to change in the decade ahead.

—— Favourite Business Books of 2020 , YAHOO FINANCE

Utterly brilliant . . . It is so fascinating because it works at two levels: there's the personal story of these two founders making it up as they go along . . . and then there's the bigger story of Silicon Valley itself, and the unstoppable pressure to grow and go viral . . . [Frier] explores how Instagram changed society in terms of influencers, and also in terms of what it does to us, when we see these heavily filtered images of perfection in other people's lives - and this is really worth thinking about.

—— Extraordinary Business Book Club

Examines the all-pervasive impact of Instagram and what it says about today's society.

—— Independent.ie
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