cover image The Purpose Path: A Guide to Pursuing Your Authentic Life’s Work

The Purpose Path: A Guide to Pursuing Your Authentic Life’s Work

Nicholas Pearce. St. Martin’s Essentials, $27.99 (256p) ISBN 978-1-250-18217-3

In this fervent but insubstantial offering, pastor and executive consultant Pearce lays out a plan for getting “what every one of us wants—a life filled with purpose and meaning.” Arguing that most Americans’ careers are out of alignment with their vocations, he lays out a plan for demonstrating vocational courage and “building a life of significance and not just importance,” in part through understanding that vocation is both a blessing and responsibility, and that chasing money and fame without purpose will only lead to being “successful but not a success.” Using examples such as Barack Obama and, refreshingly, a proportionate number of women, Pearce walks readers through both putting vocational courage to work and helping others develop it. Readers may initially find his approach appealing, but those who don’t share Pearce’s Christian faith will likely find his frequent references to Jesus and God as the primary source of purpose, in a work not otherwise avowedly religious, off-putting. Though his presentation is earnest and enthusiastic, the content is skimpy and repetitive, falling short of Pearce’s lofty ambitions for his treatise. Agent: Giles Anderson, Anderson Literary. (Apr.)