The Enigma of Anger: Essays on a Sometimes Deadly Sin [Paperback]

Garret Keizer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 24, 2004

Rage, resentment, envy, jealousy, and hatred— these emotions seem to dominate our times. They rule our highways, our workplaces, our homes, and our hearts.

In this provocative book of essays, writer Garret Keizer considers anger in all its baffling forms. Poignantly aware of his own temper, and of his ties to a religion that glorifies meekness, the author looks at anger as a paradox in our struggle to remain human in the midst of an infuriating world. Interweaving personal anecdotes, mythological stories, sacred texts, and Keizer's insightful observations, The Enigma of Anger will prove a welcome companion for anyone who has ever wrestled with wrath-or wished to make better use of it.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"I am a descendant of angry men," Episcopal priest Keizer tells readers at the outset of this wise and beautiful reflection on anger. With that, we are lured into a book that is both intensely personal and achingly universal, for Keizer's confessions of and ruminations about his own anger will strike a chord with many a reader. This memoirish and erudite study is best read as apology in both senses of the word: a request for forgiveness for unwarranted anger and a defense of anger as something that has a legitimate place in the Christian life. Keizer addresses righteous anger at social injustices, domestic anger toward family members, anger within local parishes and anger that defensively masks harder feelings like grief. One of the most original and invigorating chapters tackles gender. Keizer suggests, ingeniously, that one of the reasons men and women deal with anger differently is that "traditional `women's work' serves as an antidote to the forces that make men enraged." The book is deeply Christian, suffused with images of crucifixion, Holy Eucharist and the Sermon on the Mount but it is hardly parochial, and practitioners of other faiths will find capacious truths in Keizer's perfectly particular reflections. The book is distinguished, above all, by its prose. What might have been merely a spiritual "how-to" on anger management is transformed into a literary achievement by Keizer's way with words, from the opening description of a sugar maple tree to the concluding ode to Samuel Johnson.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Episcopal priest and author Keizer examines anger within the church, in the Christian tradition, at home, within a person, and as it is manifested in the world. When is anger good? When is it appropriate? How should we react when it becomes destructive? Keizer seeks not to dispel the need for anger or diminish its often considerable impact. Indeed, as a self-proclaimed "descendant of angry men," he has nothing but contempt for meliorating self-help movements that view life as a series of problems needing to be solved or dismissed out of hand because of their complex, seemingly intractable nature. He believes anger is a natural part of the human condition. If it is used judiciously and fairly, it can serve a purpose and actually be constructive. The wise person, he suggests, knows when to avoid it and when to express it. Given the amount of rage that exists throughout all levels and strata of modern society, The Enigma of Anger couldn't arrive at a better time. June Sawyers
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass (May 24, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787973106
• ISBN-13: 978-0787973100
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #326,251 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Profound and funny? Yes, Keizer can do it., June 5, 2009

By 

B. D. Hellmann (Amsterdam) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Enigma of Anger: Essays on a Sometimes Deadly Sin (Hardcover)

Garret Keizer is that rare philosopher who couples profound insights into what we are and how we interact with examples from our lives that clarify and convince. He's also very funny and a meticulous writer and grammarian. If you buy this book, you will lend it out over and over until it disappears into someone else's library and you'll have to buy another one.

Read his book Help, if you haven't yet done so. He also writes regularly for Harper's Mgazine.

5 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerfully beautiful in execution, style and scope, January 24, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Enigma of Anger: Essays on a Sometimes Deadly Sin (Hardcover)

As beautifully crafted as it is personally moving, Keizer's book touches on themes that are universal in scope but personally affecting in execution. This important book touches on themes that quickly transcend, yet never betray, their parochial frame--a powerful work that moved this agnostic reader.

0 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars condition not as expected, December 15, 2009

By 

Eric Peterson (Kentucky, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Enigma of Anger: Essays on a Sometimes Deadly Sin (Hardcover)

The condition report made no mention of the sloppy underlining in this book. The outside of the book is clean and in new condition, the inside not so much.