Just Who Will You Be?: Big Question - Little Book - Answer Within

"I've learned that asking ourselves not just what we want to be, but who we want to be is important at every stage of our lives, not just when we're starting out in the world. That's because in a way, we're starting out fresh in the world every single day."

Just Who Will You Be? is a candid, heartfelt, and inspirational book for seekers of all ages. Inspired by a speech she gave, Maria Shriver's message is that what you do in your life isn't what matters. It's who you are. It's an important lesson that will appeal to anyone of any age looking for a life of meaning.

In her own life, Shriver always walked straight down her own distinctive path, achieving her childhood goal of becoming "award-winning network newswoman Maria Shriver." But when her husband was elected California's Governor and she suddenly had to leave her job at NBC News, Maria was thrown for a loop. Right about then, her nephew asked her to speak at his high school graduation. She resisted, wondering...

Publishers Weekly

This slender inspirational book is a candid self-portrait of a woman in transition. A longtime NBC anchorwoman, Shriver was thrown into a tailspin when asked to resign after her husband, Arnold Schwarzenegger, was elected governor of California; she writes, "My career was gone, and with it went the person I'd been for twenty-five years." With a combination of self-deprecation and chutzpah, Shriver describes herself as the consummate overachiever, a "people-pleasing, legacy-carrying, perfection-seeking Good Girl," now realizing that "asking ourselves not just what we want to be but who we want to be is important at every stage in our lives, not just when we're starting out in the world. That's because, in a way, we're starting out fresh in the world every single day." Reprinted in full in this book is the speech Shriver made at her nephew's high school graduation-a humorous meditation on fame, achievement and self-worth-that inspired the writing of this book. Shriver's earnest self-inquiry and her humility and readiness to regard herself as a 50-year-old work-in-progress make for a charming and genuinely inspiring read. (May)

Maria Shriver is the author of five bestselling books. She lives, breathes, and writes in California.