Very Good Lives: The Fringe Benefits of Failure and the Importance of Imagination

This is the text of the commencement speech Rowling gave at Harvard in 2008, accompanied by not very interesting line drawings. The speech is thoughtful and inspiring (the discussion of failure is particularly good and important), and I can see myself reading it repeatedly over the years--which is why I bought it. While it is a pretty wonderful speech, it is a bit overpriced here, though the compensation is that proceeds go to Rowling's charity Lumos and to financial aid programs at Harvard. Recommended to Rowling completists, those who find Rowling's worldview inspiring, and anyone looking for a substantive (if short) "wisdom book" in which to slip a check for a graduation gift.

I appreciate that J.K. Rowling (and her team) took the time to publish her commencement speech for Harvard's class of 2008. It's a very good speech, one that I'd think would have stayed with me, had I been one of those graduates. She makes a great point, early on in her speech: typically, the graduate does not remember the commencement speech. Rowling found that encouraging, as she'd been struggling with nerves and fear of saying the wrong thing (as if!!!).
When it came down too it, though, she said just the very right thing, in my opinion. I think I feel that way, in part, because I am reading this at an age where I've already experienced a good portion of the "real life" she mentions (that which graduates are on the threshold of as show more they leave college). The things I was afraid of as I graduated from college, the things that concerned me and weighed heavily on me were, in retrospect, not such weighty things at all. And I see that many of the challenges or struggles I've faced along the way have actually turned out to be blessings. I wouldn't have seen them as such as a new graduate, but time has made them so.
I think this book would be a great gift for a college graduate--it says the things we want to say, but aren't always as articulate as Ms. Rowling! show less

Well worth the very short time it takes to read. Love her link between empathy and imagination, and her emphasis on the responsibility that we bear to imagine lives less fortunate than our own. "Those who choose not to empathize," she writes, "enable real monsters. For without ever committing an act of outright evil ourselves, we collude with it through our apathy." Timely words, even more now than in 2008, when Rowling delivered this commencement address at Harvard, and a good reminder for all of us, including me.

Ahhh, one of my most anticipated books for the year. I have to devour anything that JK Rowling writes and this slim little book was no exception. It's her only anticipated book release for 2015 and it does not disappoint. "Very Good Lives" is an illustrated commencement speech that Rowling gave to Harvard University in 2008. It's a fantastic and inspiring peice about the fringe benefits of failure and the importance of imagination. In it she discusses the failure of her marriage and her parents hopes for her prosperity (although she was able to turn that one around) and how her failure become her foundation for success, "... rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life." Then she describes how having a good show more imagination allows one to empathize with others. Something she learned to do well when she was working for Amnesty International. Overall it is an inspiring and uplifting little book that will be sure to put a smile on everyone's faces, especially the Potterheads :) show less

This is a slim little volume as it is actually the speech J.K. Rowling gave at Harvard's commencement ceremony in 2008. With a title that cites the "benefits of failure" and the "importance of imagination", the speech was not what I thought it'd be at all. Again, Rowling proves just what an incredibly compassionate, caring, and warm-hearted person she is as she discusses using imagination not just to improve your own life or to reach your own goals, but to use it to find ways to help other people as well, in particular, those who are a lot less fortunate. It's about using your imagination to help those in need, to fight violence and poverty, to better people's lives and to create real change in the world. It's an incredibly inspiring show more and moving speech, and short enough that I think anyone should be able to find some time to read it. show less

I wish someone had read these inspiring words to me on my graduation day! This is a beautiful commencement speech formatted into a beautiful book that helps a beautiful cause, J.K Rowling's charity, Lumos. Told with humor and unquestionable wisdom by (in my very biased opinion) one of the best authors in the world, this is a commencement speech for the records. Rowling delves into the importance of both failure and imagination in our lives, saying once, "It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default (34)." Another line I found quite powerful was, "We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we show more need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better (67)." Several lines will stay with me forever, as is J.K. Rowling's intention and talent. This is a short, but exceptional read.

Sarah M. / Marathon County Public Library
Find this book in our library catalog.

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A commencement speech that J.K. Rowling gave to Harvard graduates in 2008. Concise, powerful, inspirational, and interesting. It is certainly uplifting, especially for someone who fails more than succeeds, its great to see how someone so famous overcame her challenges.

Though there is always that "see, I did it, why don't you / why can't you" that comes from celebrity "overcoming" stories though, especially when you realize their really 1 in a million. But I think she does a good job of prefacing and explaining it and saying about how you don't have to have HER success story to be a success.