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Description of  A Century of Wisdom: Lessons from the Life of Alice Herz-Sommer, the World's Oldest Living Holocaust Survivor

Remarkable lives make for remarkable books, and a life that intersected with Kafka, Meir, and Hitler with still no sign of fading at 108 is quite remarkable. Several books have described Herz-Sommer's life. This one focuses on her musical talents, her optimism, and her wisdom as to how to get through life with honor and happiness despite hardships. Far from a self-help book, however, the text presents Herz-Sommer's history through various glimpses of her life her early childhood recollections, her days in a concentration camp, the career and eventually the death of her son, alongside stories of peeling potatoes with Golda Meir and walks through a park with Kafka. The book is a quick read, both well-written and compelling, thanks to the work of Caroline Stoessinger through many hours of interviews and friendship with the subject. One cannot help but feel some sadness for an individual who has outlived her home, her child, and indeed her entire country and yet Herz-Sommer's outlook remains upbeat and she remains surrounded by friends and musical colleagues. How she has achieved this is the basic topic of the entire text, a firm lesson as to one way perhaps the best way of living and leading a rich and fruitful life.