Customer Reviews

Freeing the Angry Mind: How Men Can Use Mindfulness and Reason to Save Their Lives and Relationships

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

 

 

For anyone wanting to lower their blood pressure, stop being a jerk, or just get an understanding of why the line at the supermarket angers them more than the fact that the clerk has to deal with customers like them constantly, then this book is for you. It is funny, witty, and deceivingly profound in the way that it examines both the source of anger, and options for overcoming the hold it has over so many lives.

I work as a licensed mental health therapist and one of the things that I do is teach anger management classes at a hospital. I have been using the "standard text" and I have been getting the idea that it is not reaching people where they live, at a heart level. This book is incredibly good at working with the reader in a compassionate way to deal with anger. This book uses cognitive psychology, Buddhism, mindfulness practice and a sense of humor to help the reader not only open up his mind, but also the heart- so that the real work of letting go of anger and living a compassionate life can begin.

While this book says it is for men, I found as a woman reading it that it held much of value for all humans, and in the places where it specifically addressed the concerns men have- it was, for me, a useful meditation on the experiences men have growing up and living in our culture.

I will definitely be using this book in every class I teach from now on. My highest recommendation. And to Dr. Bankart: Thank you. Through your words and sharing this book you have been my teacher.

One of the best books I have read so far in treating my old, selfish, angry ways.

I do not see myself as "angry", but I found so many helpful ways in improving my outlook on life and strengthening my relationship with my kids and my wife. I wish I read this 15 years ago...

Dr. C. Peter Bankart's "Freeing the Angry Mind: How Men Can Use Mindfulness & Reason to Save Their Lives & Relationships" is a must-read for not just its target audience--angry men--but also those who would seek to offer them counsel, care, support, and love. If you've found your way to investigating this book for whatever reason (maybe you're a man looking to work with his anger or someone looking to know more about the subject), trust me: this is the book you're looking for.

With its foundation in Buddhist philosophy, mindfulness, and cognitive behavioral therapy (C.B.T.), Bankart lays out a series of ideas and techniques and stories designed to support men struggling with anger. That said, this book does not offer quick fixes or easy answers; rather, it is offers a path that requires no small amount of courage, honesty, and hard work on the part of the angry man. As Maurits G.T. Kwee says in one of the blubs, "Freeing the Angry Mind" offers "an original palette of procedures from various other sources...that have the capacity to strengthen...if practiced diligently."

In my view, the meeting of the reader's effort with Bankart's map will almost certainly "save lives and relationships." This is a book that can help. And goodness knows that those kinds of books are oh-so-rare. Again, if you think this might be for you, it is. Pick it up immediately if not sooner.

- Danny Fisher, M.Div.

[...]

I had great hopes for this book but in the end I find it of uncertain utility for the general therapist.

I was looking for a book which presented core Buddhist principles in such a way as to give people the conceptual tools found in the four noble truths and the eightfold path - all from an American perspective, using American vocabulary and cultural reference points. I was looking for a book which was able to present anger sufficiently as is understood by a Buddhist thinker to make the Buddhist solution understandable to the Western mind. The book fairly well succeeds in doing this.

A problem is that I was also looking for a book which presented its lessons in a sufficiently gender blind style for use by both genders. I bought this book knowing it was focused toward men. But I was hoping it could present the problems of angry men as being a subset of the problems of Humankind attached to Human striving in general. The book did not succeed in doing so in all areas but did partially succeed. It would be more acceptable if its forward were removed or at least re-written for style.

Sadly, after reading it I find too many of its segues to be too focused toward the stereotyped macho man rather than the real human man and to be written in what appears to be a manner which appears demeaning toward non Buddhist thinkers and non Buddhist motivations. In the end I find these to be its weakest points.

I also noticed that I was not particularly angry when I started reading it but realized that it seemed to be actually provoking anger in places. My anger appeared to be provoked by both its assumptions about the nature of men as somehow separate from Humankind and areas of "psychobabble" stylism supported by the writer's self assertion of great experience and knowledge in the field. That provocation is not a necessarily bad thing if one is to teach the reader right mindfulness but one should be aware of the possibility.

Overall it appears more suitable for a customer who is a domestic court consultant responsible for developing a reading list for an entirely androcentric anger management course. But it is not sufficiently helpful for one whose practice is self referred straight men and women, as well as gay, Lesbian and transgendered persons. We are all human and we all get angry so why the stereotyping?

An alternative text for native English speaking Americans who are seeking insight about the path of mindfulness meditation is Wherever You Go, There You Are (ROUGH CUT).

Here are a couple word-for-word quotes from this book:

"Of course, some angry people don't have any sincere desire to stop being angry. These are the guys who were spoiled rotten by their parents and who now think that their possession of a penis permits them to be the tyrant boss of everyone else on the planet."

"There are just five common-sense, basic rules you need to follow if you want to gain a major amount of control over your anger. And, frankly, if you can't manage these ground rules, I think you may have to conclude that you simply aren't ready to give up the rights and privileges that go along with the title of certified angry potentate. If this is the case maybe you can donate this book to somebody with a little more determination."

This is just too funny. Make no mistake about this. This book was written by a very ANGRY man. I'm glad I borrowed it from someone instead of buying it.

This book showed up earlier thanexpected and in great condidtion. I am more than satisfied with this purchase.

So way out of sinc with normality this epistle is propaganda for a mind set of the 14th century.

However, the paper is nice so I gave it a 2