"Learning to lose is an acquired skill, like juggling or parallel parking," says Sam Weinman in Win at Losing: How Our Biggest Setbacks Can Lead to Our Greatest Gains. A sports journalist and digital editor at Golf Digest, he writes with energy and wit in his book debut, explaining his impetus right off the bat: one of his young sons lost a tennis match and threw a tantrum, leading Weinman's wife to lament, "He's turning into you." Inspired to consider how to communicate with his kids about losing, and to reconsider losing itself, Weinman digs in.
He tackles different losses--failure, disappointment, setbacks--and delves into the emotional and mental repercussions of each, analyzing how seemingly negative events can still yield tremendous opportunity. Weinman then interviews a slew of professional athletes, celebrities and friends, reflecting on their failures and what they've learned from defeat. Among the most memorable are Greg Norman, a golfer as famous for his losses as his wins; Michael Dukakis, a Massachusetts governor who lost the 1988 presidential race spectacularly; and Susan Lucci, a soap opera star whose very name became synonymous with failure after losing out on 18 Daytime Emmys in a row before winning one.
Weinman incorporates concepts from a collection of psychologists, authors and professors, but the best moments of Win at Losing are in his interviews, which elicit moments of true candor. Especially in these rich interactions, Weinman's book wins. --Katie Weed, freelance writer and reviewer