FORGETTING OURSLEVES ON PURPOSE : Vocation and the Ethics of Ambition
review by Pete Hammond
Brian J. Mahan
Jossey-Bass, 2002
Hard Cover 209 pages

Mahan has explored vocation and ambition for over two decades in his role as a professor. This work reflects that journey and his studies, with stories of classroom discussions and illustrations from people like Robert Coles, William James, Thomas Merton and Leo Tolstoy. He explores the tension between inner passion and externally imposed pressures and expectations. Mahan’s writing style is very intricate, requiring a slow read, and sometimes careful re-reads. He is also candid and vulnerable about his own journey, including appreciation for his childhood Catholic upbringing. The book assumes an educated reader, hence it is not for popular consumption. He offers several exercises in self-discernment that require the reader to stop, reflect on his or her experience, write out the discoveries and then join him in interpreting the results. The goal is authenticity, and many could benefit from this work.

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From The Marketplace Annotated Bibliography, used by permission of InterVarsity Press, P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove, IL 60515, USA. www.ivpress.com
Read the Introduction.