ForeWord Clarion Review BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY A Marked Heart David George Ball
iUniverse
978-1462002146 Determining one’s purpose in life is often difficult. In A Marked Heart, David Ball recounts While at Yale, Ball meets Martin Luther King, Jr.; it is a pivotal moment in the young
student’s life. King, writes Ball, “inspired [him] to help make the world a better place.” For Ball,
his education and work lead him to believe that he could not “help everybody, but maybe [he
could] help working Americans in their pursuit of happiness by creating more financial security
in their retirement.” The pull between a greater spiritual calling instilled in him as a child and
the various duties of daily life are recounted poignantly. Though not the course imagined by Ball’s memoir reads like a captivating novel. He writes in the present tense, at times employing endearing personal descriptions, such as “Standing by the bedroom door in my pajamas, I shiver in a cold draft. I pray for Mum, but she seems far away.” The chronological organization interlaces his career and personal life as they unfold with little foreshadowing or retrospective commentary on events as they occur. People come alive on the page with excerpts from letters and quoted conversations, including one in which he receives this advice: “Many men really take off once they discover their real interests in life.” America is repeatedly presented as a land that provides untold opportunities for those
who work hard. It is a land, he believes, where success and failure are based on personal choice
and responsibility. At the same time, he demonstrates that an Ivy League education, powerful
connections, and exemplary work do not guarantee career success, family happiness, or personal
fulfillment. The accounts of senseless power plays and personal sacrifices that accompany high-
level careers in corporations and the federal government serve as a warning. As a committed
Christian, the author explores his evolving faith and its varying role in his life. Ball’s ability While advocating for 401(k) retirement accounts was not his original idea for a lifelong mission to improve the lives of others, Ball has written an inviting memoir that reminds readers that they, too, can make a difference in the world. C. William Gee |