Review of “What Do I Know?: Wisdom Essays”
Sidekick Press
Nature abhors a vacuum. So too the human mind. And what better goal for the mind than to seek wisdom, the state of being wise. “That is having the power of discerning and judging properly as to what is true or right; possessing discernment, judgment or discretion.” (Webster’s Collegiate)
Jack Remick’s new book “What Do I Know?: Wisdom Essays” (Sidekick Press) is a thoughtful, passionate, entertaining and thoroughly enjoyable tour of wisdom. Why do I involuntarily chuckle out loud when comedian Kate McKinnon quips on SNL’s Weekend Update “We know dis” or “We do not know dis”? Because this master of comedy knows how to engage the mind and trigger the innate need of our species to feel joy and to laugh out loud.
To me at 72 years of age, the main purpose of reading Jack’s book is to capture and comprehend more about the meaning of life. It’s not about ego aggrandizement, it is all about gaining a better understanding of our contemporary world and being better equipped to negotiate the twists and turns ahead.
Simone Biles, the incredible Olympic gymnast, recently decided to take a “time out” from her scheduled events at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games because she was experiencing a debilitating case of the “twisties.” Living through four years of the Donald Drumpf aka “Trump” administration, I think that I experienced the “twisties” before I had a name tag to my thoughts and feelings during these extraordinary times of pandemic, death and false prophets. Jack’s book of essays about wisdom and have helped me think about helped me find my compass bearings again. Not because the book offers answers or solutions to life’s problems but rather because each essay flexes the muscle of the mind and strengthens my resolve to keep an open mind, to listen rather than to speak and to reflect upon some of the eternal questions about our existence as sentient beings
W. Dean Wright, Esq.