Customer Reviews

Are You My Type, Am I Yours? : Relationships Made Easy Through The Enneagram

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After 15 years of studying the enneagram, I was put off by the title of this book. Fortunately, it was a gift and so I opened it to discover an excellent presentation of the enneagram. The authors clearly understand the material and are able to communicate the enneagram's wisdom clearly. Their sense of humor is wonderful, and assists greatly in augmenting explanations of the nine types. This would be a terrific choice for someone completely unfamiliar with the enneagram, yet even an experienced student would gain from it. It is rare to laugh aloud while learning! I humbly admit that I am happy I did NOT judge THIS book by its cover! I have gone on to read their other book and it was even better reading!

Don't be put off by the title -- this is not a is-he-the-one? book; it's about how the different eneagram types interact with one another. It may help you understand your relationships with friends, family, children, parents, coworkers -- everyone. The book is eminently readable, packed with information, and filled with delightul, laugh-out-loud cartoons. In addition to providing overviews of each of the nine enneagram types, the book goes through each of the types & summaries how each interacts with the other types -- What ones think about twos -- why they like twos, why they have dificulty with twos, what ones think about threes, fours, etc., and vice versa. It very accurately identified the high points & trouble spots in several of my friendships -- (I was bothered by a one friend who always abandons me when my depressed four side comes out -- the book identifies the #1 thing about why ones have trouble with fours is four's brooding & focus on their feelings). The authors also identify famous couples (real couples, movie couples, duos like Siskel & Ebert) by their types and compares the types to Myers- Briggs typing. I particularly like the book because it has application as to how the enneagram typing helps us understand not only ourselves, but how we interact with others. This is a good introduction to the enneagram. It and Baron & Wagele's The Enneagram Made Easy are the two enneagram books I most often share with others.

Great introduction to the fascinating personality theory known as the Enneagram. I've been studying the Enneagram for four years now and I continue to be amazed at its accuracy and complexity. I know many people who are interested in it, too, and who claim to really want to know "What type am I?! Is that a good one to be?!" In the past, I've enthusiastically loaned out the more in-depth, advanced books by Don Riso and Helen Palmer, authors who address the weaknesses of each type as well as the strengths... only to have my friends come back with only part of the book read, turned off to the whole theory because it seems too complicated or talks about the "cons" of each type. "But I only want to see how cool I am," they whine. "If I wanted to hear criticisms of myself, I'd call my mother." Never mind that the whole point of personality books is to UNDERSTAND yourself and others, to learn to appreciate the strengths as well as to learn how to grow and to improve upon the weaknesses...but... (sigh).

So, partly out of my own selfishness to keep some friends into the theory, I checked out "Are You My Type....?" and I am so excited. The authors have done a fantastic job of providing a good, solid introduction to the theory and gently describing some of the, um, less appealing qualities that each of the types has. The cartoon illustrations throughout seem a bit too silly at first, but once you see them in context to the text, you can see that they really enhance the text. A sense of humor with the Enneagrams is nice, too, as it does get taken a bit too seriously sometimes.

I've loaned this book out as an introduction to the theory and have gotten a lot more people interested in the Enneagrams and in learning about themselves. A very good thing!

Although I am a long-time student of the Enneagram, I skipped past this book a number of times, mistakenly thinking that it would be yet another formulaic "How To Find Your Perfect Mate" book. Of course, I was quite wrong about that-- once again showing that there is SOMETHING to that old "Don't judge a book by it's cover" saying. Some day I'll learn.....

Baron & Wagele have put together a light-hearted and eminently readable book, introducing readers to the personality types with the Enneagram-- in the context of relationships and relating between the nine different types. The authors have also included a section on Myers-Briggs personality typing, comparing MB types with Enneagram types. Whereas this is intended to be a fun and informal look at type and relationships, the book offers lots of solid information for those interested in personality typing and understanding the people in their relationships. I suppose you COULD use this book is a helpful tool if you're on a quest to find your perfect partner, but I get the sense that's not really its purpose.

Each of the nine Enneagram types has its own chapter, which includes a brief description of that type; a section on each "subtype" (Self-preservation, relational, social); a brief coverage of Enneagram Wings; as well as examples of famous people and couples who fit that type. The bulk of each chapter is dedicated to paragraphs about what each of the OTHER types might think of the type described in the current chapter-- and I found these descrptions to be especially "on the money." Finally, the authors include their thoughts on "Things this type would NEVER do," and "How to get along with" each type. The book is illustrated throughout with Elizabeth Wagele's sometimes poignant, sometimes silly cartoon drawings.

Overall rating: Highly Recommended (9 bookmarks out of a possible 10); although this is by NO figment of anyone's imagination a "thorough" work on the Enneagram, I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of useful information and insight I found. A quick and easy read, and well worth it!

I wanted to like this book. I picked it up as a tool for exploring the chemistry between characters in my writing. I always identify their enneagrams during character development, and it seemed like this might inspire thought and lead to new depths of understanding the way they relate.

Unfortunately, this volume is a bit skimpy. The section on enneagram interrelations runs from pages 9 to 157, and it only gets that much because the book has a large typeface, utilizes bullet points and lots of cartoons. I enjoyed what they have, but it feels like a teaser for a more indepth book.

I'll be looking for that book.

I have studied the Enneagram for years and take it very seriously. This book is charming and delightful in it's very basic way of explaining types on a surface level. The cartoons capture the essence of the 9 types and make understanding the Enneagram fun and easy, even for the serious scholars! I love it! It will make you laugh and create an even deeper appreciation for the 9 types.

After 21 years of advising people who are beginning in the Enneagram, this is still one of my favorite books to recommend for people getting started. One of its strong points is that it has good descriptions of the "subtypes" or "instincts." Each type can be quite different based on how your instincts lead you to interact with other people and your environment. This book offers twenty questions to test ways you relate to each Type. Then the Type is modified by the subtype expression. It also has cartoons that give a humorous way to offer a gut response to the Type. Ultimately the instinctual response is necessary to know your Type.

The book came in a timely manner, and in great condition.
Besides 2 or 3 earmarks, it was perfectly new.
The book itself doesn't have real thorough explanations of each number on the Enneagram, but it is helpful for evaluating relationships once you know your number.
Overall, it is a good buy and arrived in great condition.

Although I'm really into the Enneagram, I avoided this book for a long time because of the irritating title. I picked it up last week, and now I really like it! It's a very simple introduction to the Enneagram with lots of cute pictures, etc. It's like a mental snack, yet substantial enough to be useful. I like that it also has a section in the back containing the Keirsey temperament types (INTP, ESFJ, ENTJ, etc.) which is another interesting classification system. This is a great book for sharing the Enneagram with people who may not have the time or inclination to delve into a juicy Riso & Hudson book.

This is a fine basic introduction to the field of Enneagram study as a tool for self-understanding and improving interactions with others. Even though I have a number of other more indepth books on the topic, I found this book to be highly accessible and very usefull in introducing friends and family to the basic understandings of Enneagram theory. I plan to purchase it as gift items in this regard.

I especially liked the chapters covering the correlation of Enneagram types with those of the Meyers Briggs Type Indicator system.