Customer Reviews

Backpacking Through Divorce

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

 

 

Backpacking Through Divorce: How to Deal When You've Been Dumped is a guide for both men and women coping with the painful reality and aftermath of the death of a marriage. Author Sean Hinchey discusses his European travels that were his antidote to the misery of the end of his marriage, and offers help to other sufferers. Hinchey's survival strategies include how to streamline and get rid of one's clutter, why "closure" isn't as valuable as pop psychology would have one believe, how to find the will to go on, when to seek help and when to find the strength to strike out on one's own. Backpacking Through Divorce is an emotional self-help guide first and foremost, leaving such thorny divorce issues as child custody and legal/property/financial disputes to other guides, yet it shines in its down-to-earth honesty and recognition of human feelings and human needs.

"Backpacking Through Divorce" isn't just for people who have been through the turmoil of divorce. As the secondary title says, "How to Deal When You've been Dumped"; any serious relationship that comes to an end, can be just as traumatic. The author uses clear and succinct examples of what most people experience during their crisis. His mix of journal entries with an analysis of how to get out of some of the more serious dead-ends makes the book user friendly. The tone is more, "I know where you've been and what you've feeling" than some of the more technical or clinical books out there. I felt as if he was talking to me, and not down to me.

The chapters are short and easy to assimilate. I didn't feel intimidated nor alone after reading the book. Rather, I realized that my predicament isn't unique. The length is perfect, I was able to finish it, in less than four hours; which was particularly helpful since I didn't want to dwell on the subject matter any longer than I had to. Many of his thought processes are useful in other aspects of my life. His concept of the Time Web versus the Time Line is something that I keep in the back of my head every day. I'm glad that somebody was able to interject a certain amount of wit into the subject matter, while still treating it with the modicum of seriousness that it warrants.

Having been through a divorce myself, I found this book insightful, thoughtful and painfully funny at times. Because it is written from a man's point of view, it gave me insight into my own experience and helped me better understand the other side. I appreciated how honest this book was. The process of divorce is incredibly painful and sad; which this book narrates in the most touching way. I loved that it followed his trip to Europe. (I would have loved to take a trip after my seperation) However, his time alone is not as fabulous as it sounds. This book is brave, vulnerable and funny!