Customer Reviews

The Angry Book

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When I was dealing with "inappropriate" anger (over-reacting to a situation)I read this book to help me. This author spoke about deep seated anger that was never resolved; in my case from childhood abuse. He said that this unspoken anger can "accumulate" so that when you might get angry for some small thing - all this "old" anger comes out in an over-reaction. Learning about this made me want to finally deal with the old anger in order to live a more normal life. I felt that this book was instrumental in my life by showing me that I had choices about my anger. I have become a much nicer person.

The author gives a very good and detailed account of what happens when you suppress your anger. It is like when you squeeze a baloon in one place: it just bulges out somewhere else. This is the anger suppression syndrome. You will have to release your anger, and if you don't do it towards the situations or people that causes it, then you end up releasing the anger towards innocent family or friends(or against yourself)

Dr. Rubin's brilliant book on anger releases the reader from all of the negative messages about anger that we have been brought up with in just about every culture. He shows that anger is a natural human emotion and to reject it is as silly and destrutive as rejecting any other basic part of our humanity. He also demonstrates that most problems we connect with anger (violence, hatred and rage) are really the result of trying to deny and repress our anger. Definately one of the best self-help books of all time.

This book validated anger for me and made me realize how much I suppress it in order to be 'good'. The message of this book is there is nothing good about such suppression. As the author says, he could have titled it 'The Love Book', and in reading it you'll understand why.
Warning: the edition I read ('74 or so) could have benefited big-time from a skilled editor. Maybe the latest is improved?

This book is excellent, but not as good as Rubin's other book, Compassion and Self-Hate. The Self-Hate part of that book is about as good as it gets for insight into how we tend to sabotage ourselves because of anger that we keep to ourselves. However, this book has a lot of good ideas, is easy reading, and Rubin comes up with a few gems that you might not think of. He's very perceptive about how to use anger properly so that it doesn't destroy us or restrict our enjoyment of life. Rubin is a follower of Karen Horney, Freudian, but not extreme, and Horney was a genius when it comes to reading the subconscious. Overall, an excellent book from Dr. Rubin.

It's an excellent book. Simple and straight to the point. Each topics are about 2-4 pages long and it explains what does each "sickness" supposed to do, how it builds up, etc.

this is an excellent guide for discovering and chipping away at that anger following the healing way of 'go the way of least resistance'..in Alcoholics Anonymous the philosophy tells us 'resentment is the #1 killer we can't afford' but anger isn't resentment..anger turned inward is depression..repressed anger explodes into killer resentment which hurts everybody..insane anger is but a symptom of underlying schtick which this book helps alleviate as does 'Compassion and Self Hate' which helps with all kinds of maladies..anger isn't a malady , though , but the most intimate of emotions usually laid on the ones i love the most..we hear only of 'anger management' as though anger is a sin..'curb your anger', 'control you anger'..the worst one can do is be 'out of control'..if we had more expressed anger, short of socking someone in the mouth, even out of control, inordinate, inappropriate anger we'd have less violence and war in the world..but we're taught to bury it 'alive' instead of 'dead' thus giving rise to all kinds of overt and covert expressions of extreme anger..this book helps me realize the need for letting the anger rise , be expressed in my own way as each does in their own way , and dissipate..a process going on for the rest of my life..having , and expressing anger , is as necessary as eating..to learn to live with anger, to learn not to take personal, to not be afraid of my anger or others' expression of anger is tricky business this book helps one get in contact with..instead of stressing pop 'anger management' , which often is nothing but 'anger repression' , this book helps open me up, make me vulnerable yet stronger so i can live individually and collectively with anger.

Since I tend to be a person one would describe as hot-headed or ill-tempered, I thought this the perfect gift. Honestly, I believe that much of what Dr. Rubin purports to be true: that many psychological problems stem from our inability to connect to our anger.

However, I found that the book's main points are made in the first several chapters while the balance is spent reiterating those points continually. In my opinion, Dr. Rubin should've spent more time helping the reader with excercises aimed at connecting WITH the anger rather than understanding its many faces.

Maybe he is setting us up for "The Angry Book II". I think I will pass -- I'm a bit angry that I got this book as a gift.

Anger is a God given emotional reaction to a displeasing thought, story, event or action. Each individual has their genetic, experience and environment factors which combine to form their response to anger percipetating factors. This book helps one to look closely and better understand their own and other's anger. I purchased multiple copies in order to share them with men I coach in drug and alcohol rehabilitation. Please visit [...]

This book is written so anyone can understand it. Not to painful or hard to get through. It gets to the brain and not to the gut so it can be applied when needed. I'm not sure how he pulled that off. Experience I guess.