Beyond Success and Failure: Ways to Self-Reliance and Maturity [Paperback]

Willard Beecher (Author), Marguerite Beecher (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: DeVorss & Company; Revised edition (December 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0875165699
• ISBN-13: 978-0875165691
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #522,857 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book will make you reflect on everything in your life., August 15, 1999

By 

Ryan Howard "ryanshyper" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beyond Success and Failure: Ways to Self-Reliance and Maturity (Paperback)

I originally found this book in the basement of my local public library doing volunteer work. It consumed me as much as I consumed it. It redirected my life and after reading it I felt better and clearer about every decision I made. It has changed me for the better. I can't wait to rediscover it again. (I'm ordering it again!) I only wish I could thank Willard and Marguerite Beecher myself. Enjoy!

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Is it Kryptonite or Gold?, December 10, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Beyond Success and Failure: Ways to Self-Reliance and Maturity (Paperback)

Well, the answer depends on who you are and what you're bringing to the reading of this book.

Having gone to Oberlin College in the late 80's (the heyday of "political correctness" and ground zero for that movement, in fact) I am well-acquainted with "liberal" views on life, society and personal responsibility. Lots of noble notions, not much pragmatism or self-evaluation. If you're a die-hard student of the P.C. movement, this book will offend you, even freak you out. Kryptonite! Why? Because it reminds you that YOU are primarily (nay, entirely) responsible for your sense of happiness and direction in life. Which you'd think would be self-evident enough, but somehow isn't to people who are used to blaming others for their woes instead of examining their own premises first. Check your premises!

Political Correctness plays strip poker with this book and loses, ends up buck naked, an emperor with no clothes. BSAF is a superb antidote to P.C. because in a matter of a few short chapters, it very effectively strips away common illusions about what makes us miserable in life and who's responsible for this phenomenon, based on its roots (no finger-pointing allowed anymore). It's a challenging read! But if you're ready to move beyond demanding that others help you realize your best self, and ready to start demanding that growth of YOURSELF, you'll find this book is pure gold, a very effective tool for shifting your consciousness towards enhanced self-reliance.

I don't say that lightly, because I've read dozens of "self-help" books, been in therapy, even been prescribed anti-depressants. I wish I'd found this book first! It's a page-turner, a quick read, but very potent. It really truly did change my life. I read it again six months later and it had improved with age. If you suffer from bona fide clinical depression (for example) or some other truly severe challenge, keep your therapist around. If however you are among what the profession calls "the worried well," then wrap up your sessions, get off the Zoloft (or Prozac or whatever) and READ THIS BOOK. With a cheap paperback version in print, you have nothing to lose.

FYI...
1) The current edition graciously omits the somewhat noxious and outdated chapter on homosexuality that existed in the original version. Otherwise, though, the book has aged remarkably well. In fact, you could almost believe it was written in the mid-Nineties in response to P.C. rather than in the Sixties as it was. It still packs a wise, timeless punch.
2) The book is based heavily on Adlerian psychology, which is very much about the individual and self-reliance.
3) It's not a detailed "how-to" book (which is why I'm giving it 4 stars rather than 5)-- it's big on ideas, but a little short on practical solutions for self-improvement, and might leave you wondering "Now what?" In that case, you may find that books like "Feeling Good" by Burns or "Awaken The Giant Within" by Robbins (no, really) offer you more pragmatic advice.

Kryptonite or gold? It's up to you now.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What "Beyond Success and Failure" did for me, July 12, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Beyond Success and Failure: Ways to Self-Reliance and Maturity (Paperback)

This is the book for anyone who feels like something is missing in their life and they still believe that it will be fulfilled only when they meet the right person, place or thing.

This book teaches self reliance on every level. There is a huge lesson to be gained from this book.