The Good Deed Guide

Rating:
Summary: Feel Better Fast
Review: A non-comprehensive but very useful guide, and initially I thought mostly aimed at children, or at least adults helping children learn the skills behind the good deeds. The only thing missing here is the glaringly absent thank-you owed to Boy and Girl Scouting, as keepers of the Good Deed flame.

But beyond that, it's all in the introduction - what a gift to receive the reminder in our cold, cynical world that good deeds are truly the way to make a difference. It's a simple message, but a profound one to the individual now. Even skilled adults will learn a thing or two as the authors encourage letting our good deed reach exceed our grasp.

Divided into four sections (first aid, friends and neighbors, strangers, and community), the randomish selection of good deeds plumb skill levels from the elementary (making chicken soup for a sick friend) to the truly friendship-as-art (helping a friend quit smoking or comforting a grieving friend).

A sure-fire balm for the urban cynic (highly recommended post-election for Californians).