Mountain, Get Out of My Way: Life Lessons and Learned Truths

The talk show host draws on his life story and his motivational presentations for young people to offer inspiration and advice on getting the most out of life while avoiding its pitfalls

TV talk-show host Williams grew up in a Baltimore family in which both parents worked multiple jobs and demanded his adherence to conventional values. Unable to afford college, he enlisted in the Marines and won an appointment to Annapolis. On graduation, Williams became an intelligence officer but had his greatest success as an inspirational speaker to young-adult audiences, even attracting the attention of the White House. It was a short step to television, where his program is syndicated nationally. In his book, written with freelancer Paisner, Williams cautions minority group members: never forget that you will face discrimination, but battle to overcome it. After a disappointing first chapter, in which he argues that putting prayer into our schools will solve many of the nation's problems, the rest of the book is absorbing. Author tour.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Straight from the heart and the boob tube, Montel's memoir offers simplistic, ``as seen on TV'' solutions to complex problems. Nationally syndicated talk show personality Williams traces our contemporary social problems to the removal of God from public schools. This, he contends, ``marks the beginning of the deterioration of the American family, and without family this country has just spun out of control.'' When young people no longer attend church or believe in God, then money becomes their god. And in their pursuit of money, insists Williams, morality is cast aside. This domino theory ignores the socioeconomic factors that have led to the dissolution of the family, and the fact that church attendance is actually on the upswing, particularly in the inner city. One can hardly argue, though, with Williams's forthright solutions, despite their simplicity. He proposes that the ills of society be remedied with his three R's: restraint, responsibility and respect. Young people need to think about the consequences of their actions, to assume responsibility for their actions, and to regard one another with respect. The Holy Host, unfortunately, undermines his message with selective true confessions. He was clearly not there for his first wife and his two older daughters. Though he takes responsibility for ``messing up'' (``at home, I certainly wasn't practicing what I was preaching''), the reader becomes disillusioned with the messenger. And now, when he supposedly does have his life together, with a new wife and two more children, one wonders just how much time he can devote to his family (or to God) while ``working twelve to fourteen hours a day, seven days a week.'' Likely to appeal to Montel fans and other ``gawk show'' devotees, Mountain, Get Out of My Way won't make the earth move. Straight from the heart and the boob tube, Montel's memoir offers simplistic, ``as seen on TV'' solutions to complex problems. Nationally syndicated talk show personality Williams traces our contemporary social problems to the removal of God from public schools. This, he contends, ``marks the beginning of the deterioration of the American family, and without family this country has just spun out of control.'' When young people no longer attend church or believe in God, then money becomes their god. And in their pursuit of money, insists Williams, morality is cast aside. This domino theory ignores the socioeconomic factors that have led to the dissolution of the family, and the fact that church attendance is actually on the upswing, particularly in the inner city. One can hardly argue, though, with Williams's forthright solutions, despite their simplicity. He proposes that the ills of society be remedied with his three R's: restraint, responsibility and respect. Young people need to think about the consequences of their actions, to assume responsibility for their actions, and to regard one another with respect. The Holy Host, unfortunately, undermines his message with selective true confessions. He was clearly not there for his first wife and his two older daughters. Though he takes responsibility for ``messing up'' (``at home, I certainly wasn't practicing what I was preaching''), the reader becomes disillusioned with the messenger. And now, when he supposedly does have his life together, with a new wife and two more children, one wonders just how much time he can devote to his family (or to God) while ``working twelve to fourteen hours a day, seven days a week.'' Likely to appeal to Montel fans and other ``gawk show'' devotees, Mountain, Get Out of My Way won't make the earth move. Straight from the heart and the boob tube, Montel's memoir offers simplistic, ``as seen on TV'' solutions to complex problems. Nationally syndicated talk show personality Williams traces our contemporary social problems to the removal of God from public schools. This, he contends, ``marks the beginning of the deterioration of the American family, and without family this country has just spun out of control.'' When young people no longer attend church or believe in God, then money becomes their god. And in their pursuit of money, insists Williams, morality is cast aside. This domino theory ignores the socioeconomic factors that have led to the dissolution of the family, and the fact that church attendance is actually on the upswing, particularly in the inner city. One can hardly argue, though, with Williams's forthright solutions, despite their simplicity. He proposes that the ills of society be remedied with his three R's: restraint, responsibility and respect. Young people need to think about the consequences of their actions, to assume responsibility for their actions, and to regard one another with respect. The Holy Host, unfortunately, undermines his message with selective true confessions. He was clearly not there for his first wife and his two older daughters. Though he takes responsibility for ``messing up'' (``at home, I certainly wasn't practicing what I was preaching''), the reader becomes disillusioned with the messenger. And now, when he supposedly does have his life together, with a new wife and two more children, one wonders just how much time he can devote to his family (or to God) while ``working twelve to fourteen hours a day, seven days a week.'' Likely to appeal to Montel fans and other ``gawk show'' devotees, Mountain, Get Out of My Way won't make the earth move. Straight from the heart and the boob tube, Montel's memoir offers simplistic, ``as seen on TV'' solutions to complex problems. Nationally syndicated talk show personality Williams traces our contemporary social problems to the removal of God from public schools. This, he contends, ``marks the beginning of the deterioration of the American family, and without family this country has just spun out of control.'' When young people no longer attend church or believe in God, then money becomes their god. And in their pursuit of money, insists Williams, morality is cast aside. This domino theory ignores the socioeconomic factors that have led to the dissolution of the family, and the fact that church attendance is actually on the upswing, particularly in the inner city. One can hardly argue, though, with Williams's forthright solutions, despite their simplicity. He proposes that the ills of society be remedied with his three R's: restraint, responsibility and respect. Young people need to think about the consequences of their actions, to assume responsibility for their actions, and to regard one another with respect. The Holy Host, unfortunately, undermines his message with selective true confessions. He was clearly not there for his first wife and his two older daughters. Though he takes responsibility for ``messing up'' (``at home, I certainly wasn't practicing what I was preaching''), the reader becomes disillusioned with the messenger. And now, when he supposedly does have his life together, with a new wife and two more children, one wonders just how much time he can devote to his family (or to God) while ``working twelve to fourteen hours a day, seven days a week.'' Likely to appeal to Montel fans and other ``gawk show'' devotees, Mountain, Get Out -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Williams, one of daytime television's most popular talk show hosts, here imparts the motivational guidelines that helped him achieve success.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.