The Beautiful No

May 27, 2019
Television producer Salata shares her story of transformation in this approachable debut. Salata, writing in a diaristic style, begins with her decision to leave her long career working as executive producer on The Oprah Winfrey Show. In her mid-50s, she felt it was the right time to leave, and was overwhelmed with excitement and worry about the future. As she took stock of her life, Salata began to face demons she had been avoiding: the lack of romantic love in her life, her insecurities about her body, and the pressure to always be ready and willing to work. Salata walks readers through her great “reckoning,” when she faces her foibles by starting a journal, attending a therapy spa, and taking a year off for “radical self-care.” To fight back against self-destructive thinking, she recommends readers be kind to themselves and to journal in order to “tenderly look at the landscape of your life and lovingly explore its pits and grooves, its highs and lows.” To this end, she offers her own process through revealing, in-depth discussions of difficulties in her own past, including the moment that problems with her weight began, the uncertainties of her 20s, and her victorious battle against cancer. Salata will be a comforting guide to any reader looking for new strategies for overcoming personal obstacles.

May 1, 2019
The story of one woman's reinvention after a 20-year career as an executive producer on the Oprah Winfrey Show. After two decades working alongside one of the most famous women in the world, Salata, who eventually became the co-president of Harpo Studios and OWN, was ready for a change. Despite her impressively successful career, the author, moving toward her late 50s, felt unfulfilled, and she had the feeling that there was more to come. She had dreams that had been shelved for years and knew it was time to dust them off. First, however, she needed to reconcile issues with her past, primarily her weight fluctuations and her romantic relationships. "The reckoning--my reckoning, your reckoning--is not about self-judgment," she writes. "It's about hope. It's the beginning of the stirring up of possibility. It's the seed of the tiniest momentum that propels you beyond the ruts you are stuck in, the routine you have so dedicatedly constructed over decades." The author blends moments of humor--e.g., her stint at a spa that featured "daily colonics," a liposuction episode--with memorable advice she has absorbed from 20 years working with Oprah and her innumerable guests. Salata shares how she and her good friend, who was also looking for a life change, made a commitment to support each other unconditionally, and she stresses the importance of such valuable friendships, especially later in life. The author does meander a bit--she gives readers an inside look at life with her dogs and how she went from being an employee at a convenience store to eventually snagging her dream job--but on the whole, the narrative maintains a steady beat of useful advice coupled with honesty and wit, making this an empowering read for women of all ages but especially those 50 and above who are seeking a change. Honest reflections on a life well-lived and how the next chapter looks to be even better.

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May 15, 2019
Former executive producer of the Oprah Winfrey Show, Salata looks back on her life and mulls over the changes she is making in it now that she has taken up a less-stressful existence. Part memoir and part self-help, Salata's first book begins with a couple of chapters of rigorous self-examination before delving into her experience at a celebrity-frequented spa that specializes in colon hydrotherapy as she attempts to begin losing a hundred pounds. The book jumps with diverting energy from topic to topic: Salata's adoption of a socially challenged dog, her experiences working as a supervisor for 7-Eleven, her mother's death, her affection for Transcendental Meditation. While the book may strike some readers as too peppily optimistic and reliant on quickie spiritual fixes, Salata's self-deprecating humor, combined with the occasional, welcome hint of skepticism, keeps it likeable. Readers who are looking for a companion for a not-too-rigorous journey towards self-improvement and self-realization may find one in Salata.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)