‘What if you are all designers? You don’t design cups or jet engines; you design your own lives.’

There is an ‘ah!’ moment in Clues from the Universe when two characters meet in a therapist’s waiting room. One is an attractive female lawyer facing burnout, and the other is a wifeless Lotto winner whose marriage hit the rocks on a Caribbean cruise. When we realise the connectivity between these and Neil Taylor’s other disparate characters - all cogs in the Langian metropolitan machine - this highly intelligent life guide speaks a wonderfully clear and optimistic message. How we live is a product of our own design, and it is up to us to look without and within for clues about ways to overcome fear and negative competitiveness, and learn how to operate collectively.

The author’s work as a counsellor and team coach, and his intimate knowledge of corporate gamesmanship, together with his sharp lawyer’s mind and excellent narrative style, make this a handbook to cherish. Don’t skim: digest and enjoy, and reap the rewards.