Sometimes, lives unfold together, come apart, then converge again or move in parallel lanes. In the case of Rich Dad, Poor Dad author Robert Kiyosaki and his sister Emi, the paths were at times strikingly different. Born and raised in Hawaii, the fourth-generation siblings parted ways during the '60s. Robert joined the Marines and served in Vietnam as a helicopter gunship pilot. Then he became a very successful entrepreneur and writer. When Robert turned to war, Emi turned to peace: as a Tibetan Buddhist monk, she pursued a spiritual journey that seemed a universe away from the path taken by her beloved brother. In Rich Brother, Rich Sister, this loving pair relate what they have learned in the decades since they learned to be themselves.

In this absorbing memoir, a departure in everything but title for Robert Kiyosaki (Rich Dad Poor Dad), the investment guru and his Buddhist sister Emi narrate their life stories in terms of spiritual wealth. Switching off within chapters, the fourth-generation Japanese-American siblings describe their 1960s Hawaii upbringing, noting their independent rebellious streaks and attempts to challenge their parent's Christianity and the small-town lifestyle. Robert shipped off to Vietnam, a marine helicopter pilot with a reputation for hell-raising, before returning to the states to become a successful entrepreneur and student of visionary thinker Buckminster Fuller. Emi, meanwhile, became a single mother and an anti-war activist before discovering Buddhism, becoming ordained by the Dali Lama and working as a chaplain for the US Air Force Academy. Sister and brother reunited in 2007, when Robert offered financial support for Emi's heart surgery; the spiritual bond they discovered, and its lessons, led to this book. Emi now sees the need for "better bridges for our spiritual life and livelihood," while Robert finds that life is a quest for one's "spiritual family," a process that necessitates "finding the things in life worth dying for."
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This book, a kind of dual memoir, is exceedingly hard to assess. It tells the parallel and strongly contrasted stories of Robert Kiyosaki, well known, if rather controversially so, as the author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, and his sister Emi Kiyosaki (the Venerable Tenzin Kacho), who enjoys an eminence of her own as a Buddhist nun. What unites them, according to Emi, is "the search for meaning, belonging, success, and understanding," but what remains with the reader is the powerful contrast in their approaches to life-the humble nun and the entrepreneurial pal of Donald Trump.

The latest in the entrepreneurial Rich Dad series is not focused solely on making money. The production alternates between a female and a male narrator to mirror the brother-and-sister relationship of the authors. The combined effect enhances the contrast between the spiritual and secular perspectives of the writing team. Jim Bond utilizes a semi-robotic, slightly nasal voice as he recounts the story of a businessman's search for God in the midst of earning and investing his money. Sandra Burr’s delivery is gentler, soft in tone and moderate in pace, reflecting the years author Emi Kiyosaki spent as a Buddhist nun. The narration styles, alternating by chapter, give the listener the benefit of both perspectives towards material and spiritual aspects of life. M.R. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine