It's 3:00 am in the morning and after a long day of classes and consequent
partying, a student finds himself or herself sitting in the DeKalb County
Detention Center with a charge of reckless driving. Since the student is in
Atlanta for school and his or her family is back home, not to mention that the
he or she does not have an attorney, the student realizes that he or she is in a
bit of a predicament. What can the student do? Who can he or she call?
If one is lucky enough to have taken Perry Binder for a
law class at Georgia State University then he or she is probably thinking of
him. Who else but this passionate, perseverant, and hilarious Bronx native would
have the compassion to come to one's aid whilst seeking freedom, and the jokes
to keep you laughing as he or she waits? Perry Binder is known for being a
professor who goes above and beyond what is expected in the classroom. Now, he
is an author who exceeds expectations with his first book, Unlocking Your Rubber
Room: 44 Off-the-wall Lessons to Lighten and Transform Everyday Life.
Binder admitted that trying to think of a title drove him crazy.
"Somehow from driving myself crazy," said Binder, "I thought about people who
get put in a rubber room. Then it dawned upon me, we all live in some kind of
rubber room. We all have these confining mindsets, and it's like what do we do
with this mindset? Do we just bounce around aimlessly, or do we get some
focus in our life?"
This hilarious book is split into three sections called Law & Negotiation:
Padding Your Rubber Room, Potpourri: Organizing Your Rubber Room, and Justice &
Education: Facing Your Rubber Room.
"The book is one part about law, one part about getting motivated in life, and
third, just my take on the justice system, which is a little bent," explains
Binder.
"We do have a great legal system," said Binder. "However, sometimes the people
that run it are not that great. Sometimes judges don't want to hear what clients
have to say."
The book began as a larger project that was to be called Diary of Semester, but
due to the advice of his friends and family, Binder selected the most relevant
and interesting lessons to compile into Unlocking Your Rubber Room. Former
students will recognize some of these memorable lessons, but most are new.
Considering that Binder began his legal career by the age of 23 and eventually
went on to become a professor and a motivational speaker, it is no surprise that
becoming an author as well was no challenge for him.
"They call writing a labor of love," said Binder. "I don't consider this labor.
This was an easy book for me to write because it was pieces of my life from
school and from the courtroom. It's just life experience, reading your own
stuff, finding your own voice. This book is really just about being the best
person you can be. Be motivated, have fun, have focus, and if somebody messes
with you, know how to mess back with them."
Binder has always encouraged his students to use knowledge of the law to
understand their rights. In Unlocking Your Rubber Room, he has a few more pieces
of advice he wants to share with his former, current, and future students.
Especially the end of the book, where Perry shares a speech "as if I was giving
the graduation speech here at Georgia State. The things I really want to say to
the students that I never get a chance to say."
Unlocking Your Rubber Room is a short and sweet, motivational, and funny
pick-me-up, just like Binder's classroom.
For more information, visit
http://www.YourRubberRoom.com .
© Copyright 2009 Signal & Urbanite
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