With it's super-cool packaging and the author's trippy, irreverent style, you could easily mistake the Handbook for being yet another trendy tome that looks good but is devoid of any useful content. But the Barefoot Doctor's credentials are sound. A Taoist healer, doctor of Chinese medicine, and a Tai Ch'i master, the Doc has been a key figure on the New Age scene for over twenty years. And as well as seeking to bring mainstream and alternative medicine into closer union, the Doc is also an inspiration to those who want their spiritual advice to shoot from the hip. And that's exactly what the Handbook for Heroes offers, focusing on the kind of fame and fortune that might not necessarily take you to Hollywood, but might help you to achieve unlimited spiritual wealth. Spectacular herodom is for wimps: it's the humble, chilled-out and self-aware who have the greatest heroic influence. Fame and fortune are achievable ambitions but what you generate from within is what you ultimately become. The Doc's guidance is as classic and as ancient as his Taoist learning, but his swift, on-the-level delivery gives it a stylish street spin that works. Read it and reap, dude. --Lucas LoBlack

2001-10-17 Inspirational, funny and suprisingly practical

This book always seems to have an appropriate piece of practical or psychological advice for whenever you lose your way on your path to fame and fortune, or indeed general sanity. The Doc's quirky writing style is very funny and easy to read. However, I would advise that you check out his Barefoot Doctor website or column in the Observer first to see if the writing style agrees with you. The occasional spiritual jargon can easily be taken with a pinch of humourous salt for all those non-believers (i.e. me) - the Handbook for Heroes is still a fantastic find.