Customer Reviews

A Fine Young Man: What Parents, Mentors, and Educators Can Do to Shape Adolescent Boys into Exceptional Men

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

 

 

One of the best features of this book is the fact that Michael Gurian. having lived in other cultures, researches his material through the scientific process aas well as by investigating other cultures in how they relate to boys. In so doing Gurian discovers some common elements and some differences. Some of these differences are surprising and offer our own culture something to thnink about. It is hard to focus on what is good about this book because one would have to summarize all its chapters. Perhaps a strong element of "A Fine Young Man" is the structure of those chapters. Guriam presents the thesis of the chapter. He presents cross-cultural references, scientific reseach and personal histories. He then offers some practical "how-to's". For those of us who work with boys, especially adolescents, this practical aspect is quite important. While Gurian's style makes this "easy" reading, one finds oneself pausing numerous times and talking to oneself about what one has just read. Gurian inspires the reader to bring "his" own life to the process. I thought this book would be a releif from the spiritual and theological reading I have been doing. Yet I found myself reflecting frequently on Gurian's insights, the implications of the research he discovered and the stories he presents. I found myself journaling about these times.

This book has solid practical value, but it also has a deep spiritual challenge to those of us to want to help our young men grow into healthy and faithful adults.

As a single mom this was a hard book for me to read. I had no problem finding mentors for my daughter - there were always other mothers & teachers. Finding mentors for my son was problematic. At least I did recognize he needed male role models & decent ones at that. In A Fine Young Man, Michael Gurian gives us a swift, fluent & readily digestible version of the Adolescent Male 101. For those of us in the body female - this is fascinating, validating & enlightening. For those of us in the body male I expect it's all of that with the added feature of being familiar! I sure hope so! A must for anyone raising sons or mentoring our young men...

At a conference for educators, I atttended Gurian's presentation. I had never heard of him, but thought he was one of the most sane and compassionate voices among the many addressing these issues. Having subsequently read all his books except the new one, A Good Son, I found A Fine Young Man to be the most helpful and most interestingly written. I've recommended it and given it as a gift quite a few times. His position is not anti-feminist; it is pro-boy, which is quite different. Until we can make this distinction as educators and as parents we will continue to put our young men and our society at risk.

I have 2 boys 12 and 14. I hunger for books on this subject. I liked this book better than others. I chaff at the sterotypes necessary in this sort of book although Gurian handled this issue gracefully. The book is dense on theory and philosophy and more articulate and complete and thought provoking than most. I liked his list of characteristics and attributes of the fine young man. The sections on practical hints, while much more complete than most other books on the subject could certainly bear some fleshing out especially for parents who not are well connected with adequate male models. It made me grateful I have a great husband and a circle of good friends.

I've been a teacher of this species for almost twenty years, and am in the throes of raising two of them myself, but Gurian explains many of the mystifying aspects of teenaged boys to those of us who have never been one!

He explains the biology and psychology, but more than that, he shares insights into the ways to best reach and connect with teenaged young men. As an example, which we probably all know intuitively, but didn't realize on a conscious level, if you want to try and talk with them, you have to do something active, like shoot hoops. You also have to be prepared to take the time to wait. These are the types of insights I found personally useful, but there is much more here that is helpful to anyone who is hoping to help boys grow up into well-adjusted men. I recommend this to anyone who spends time with adolescent boys.

This book was written not only for youth but as a tool that parents, teachers, and community members can use to engage in the difficult task of guiding youth, especially young men. The author states that "Adolescent boys may appear to be self-sufficient, but they actually need their parents and elders desperately." This profound statement by the author summarizes the book in the fact that without mentor's youth can not survive. Besides providing information for family and community members the book also addresses many male behavior traits by describing biological reasons behind them. Scientific studies conducted on neurological development have asserted that female and make brains have significant differences. Within males testosterone plays a much more profound role in male development and behavior which sheds some light into the aggressive actions of male youth. However, the author doesn't simply focus on neurological development as a means to scapegoat the fact that males tend to be more aggressive then females thus their behavior should be excused, but rather suggest that this theory might explain in more depth the reasoning behind typical family dilemmas.

The book outlines ways that parents, mentors, and community members can keep aggression from becoming violence, such as focusing on education and how the media effects aggression in young men through development from preadolescence to late adolescence. The author states that adolescent boys are society's most undernourished population in regards to mentoring and that focusing a little bit of time and effort is going to pay of immensely for these young men and how they ultimately affect society.

This book was clearly written for individuals who want to broaden their knowledge surrounding at risk male youth. It has clear goals which are outlined throughout the book and it provided a solid basis for understanding what needs to be done in ones home, community, and elsewhere to aid in the development of at risk youth.

Even though at times I did not agree with the physiological causes for assertive male behavior I was able to understand that extensive research within this area has been completed and this book is based on that research. Although the neurological development of males is drastically different then females, I believe that it does not excuse aggressive behavior. Overall I thought this book was well written and had some excellent alternative view points. I would definitely recommend it to another mentor.

This excellent book is written by the author of The Wonder of Boys, a book which has helped me as I raise my sons. I found Fine Young Man to be even better, though, because the ideas are even more fleshed out into real, practical solutions and suggestions. Not content to just blame everything on "nurture", Gurian seems to suggest that "nature" plays a key role, perhaps a larger role than many people would care to admit. He outlines how rough the road is for boys growing up in today's world, and how we as parents and mentors can help our sons become strong, sane, and well-balanced. I particularly liked his description of the three stages of male adolescence, which somehow rang extremely true. And his assertion that male role models are essential is right on the money. His book is a cut above others, because he is able to inspire and encourage with real ideas, not just theory or blame. If I had one criticism, it would be that I wished he had inc! luded a few more resources at the end. But that's small criticism for an extremely fine book.

I liked this book--solid, enlightening, breaking new ground...This may be the beginning of a movement, finally, a look at what makes young men tick,the forgotten male. I've seen three books recently that tap into the same issue, from different angles: Raising a Son, overall issues of raising a boy; Real Boys (Pollack), which talks about the myths and misunderstandings of boys; and the PC Dads Guide to Becoming a Computer Smart Parent (Ivey), which has a lot about raising a son in the digital age....all good reading as part of a much needed discussion.

Why are we raising generations of disaffected, dysfunctional & dissed young men? Why does it seem that our boys no longer have direction to their lives. Why on earth are they so enraged, rudderless & obsessed? In A Fine Young Man you will see the tragic trail leading to wounded boys, abandoned by mentors & guides. Both boys & girls needs community heroes, direction & instruction & public school simply does not nor cannot take the place of adult male elders. This book is an eye opener, a swift & fluent introduction to the Adolescent Male 101 & takes us through the quests & stages all young males pass through, guided or not. Fascinating, hair-raising & eminently readable. A must for anyone raising boys or wondering about our lost, damaged youth.

From a female standpoint I found this book educational and enlightening to why boys do some of the things they do. My children are not quite at the age where this book is useful to me yet - but in a short amount of time I will read this book again and am hopeful it will give me insight into raising my boys into Fine Young Men.