Customer Reviews

Why Do I Love These People? Honest and Amazing Stories of Real Families

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I think the most striking part of this book is that you feel comforted by the fact that the problems you're facing in your own relationships are commonplace. They're not dysfunctional. Every family has its share of issues and you don't need to feel overly guilty for yours. The book's underlying theme is that families that honesty, consideration, character, belief and perhaps above everything else - resilience, can get you through the worst debacles and that at the end of the day it's probably (though not always) worth the effort.

Stories include:
Resentment about controlling parents who appear to display conditional loving and also about appreciating how much of their lives parents sacrifice to bring the kids up; the search for redemption after abandoning a kid or cheating on a wife, the courage required to break relationships that are dead and the perseverance required to bring one back from the dead (and the effect on kids), dealing with the families of your in-laws and family objection to marriage, how to deal with kids who are falling into bad habits when you feel powerless to influence their decisions because they no longer respect you or listen to you, dealing with the death of a child, how we feel obligated to spend time with our families rather than actually wanting to spend time with them and what we are losing, etc.

Although it may seem that most people cannot relate to these situations... actually I felt an amazing amount of empathy for the families and came away with a renewed conviction that I can get the perfect family life (with all it's frustrations and headaches) and balance it with everything.

If you have any relationship, friendship that you have a certain amount of frustration, resignation about then I strongly recommend this book. It is one of those books that if it hits you at the right time - it could change your relationships and your life.

Life can be quite a maze of great joys and incredible pain, but every step of the way the greatest thing one can hope for is the capacity to learn and grow. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done. Pain is a great obstacle and most of us find ourselves trapped for most of our lives by our past.

This book is a true blessing. The book is filled with tons of stories from a multicultural array of relationship experiences where people learn to overcome the life's great obstacles and capture the true meaning of being alive. This book came to me at a low point in my life, when hope was slowly fading from my heart. This book gave me faith that pain is not an end, but a bump in life's journey. It is impossible to read this book and not come away inspired and nurtured by the stories of the people in its pages.

Do not miss the opportunity to experience this treasure as it will nourish your soul, but be warned-- you will be moved to buy this book for the people you care most about in life because this truly blessed experience is not meant to remain a secret.

Po Bronson's WHY DO I LOVE THESE PEOPLE?, is exactly what the subtitle says...honest & amazing stories of real families. Many of them will open your eyes...some of them will bring tears to your eyes. This book is a must for any troubled family, or anyone who wants a "real" look at families around the world.

Simply put, this is absolutely a wonderful book. It will bring you to tears, inspire you, give you hope, and create a deep introspection about yourself and your own family.
Po's writing is truly a gift. I recommend it highly and I bet you'll want to give it to each member of your family.

Mine is one of the stories in the book. When Po sent it to me, I was eager to read it because I expected it to be handled in a sensitive manner while telling an important story. I was wrong.
I felt violated - not because I was expecting a rosey spin on my story but because Po violated some important things we had discussed. He told me he wasn't sure what angle he would take on the story but that he would most certainly run it past me. Wrong again. I considered him a friend and shared with him a photograph of my children. Imagine my surprise when I found it published in the book WITHOUT MY PERMISSION.

I have not read the other stories in the book. It has been months and I have not been able to get past being used in this way.

If my story has helped anyone, it has been at a very high cost to me...one that I did not agree to pay.

I am a father, a son, a brother and a husband. You learn how to do this mostly by on the job training and watching (or missing) your parents. Still, for me, I never know if I'm doing it right exactly,if my feelings are fair, if my family's normal or crazy, if we sacrifice or if we're selfish. You can't ask your family, they love you and dislike you at the same time. Whatever they say will be colored. You can't ask strangers for their intimate stories to compare yours to, you'll get locked up. What you can do is read this book. It is full of truth and rich with emotion. Po Bronsons ability to bring you into these peoples lives so fully is amazing. My wife and I passed the book between us, each reading it a story at a time, often one standing over the other to snatch it back as they finished.This book is a rare and magical experience. I can't stop thinking about, and oddly, missing the families Mr. Bronson introduced us to. The house was full of tissues, and our hearts were just..full.
Charley

I'm going to admit, the first reason I purchased this book was because of its title: WHY DO I LOVE THESE PEOPLE? I was in a bookstore after it was released and saw a customer pick up the book. She showed it to the person who was with her and she said "Why do I love these people? Because I have to, that's why." The two began laughing, no doubt thinking about members of their own families. Of course intriguing titles are not always enough, and when I read the book flap and saw that it was written by Po Bronson who wrote WHAT SHOULD I DO WITH MY LIFE?, I had a pretty good idea that this would be an interesting book.

Bronson does not present typical families in this book, nor does he try and find atypical or controversial families to fill the pages. Bookstore shelves are already lined with such titles. Instead, Bronson began corresponding with people, using the method he utilized in WHAT SHOULD I DO WITH MY LIFE and let their stories fill the pages. We meet a wide group of people who have all sorts of struggles such as a woman who wakes from a near death experience and wonders what her life is all about, a man who loses his son and his loss reshapes his life, a woman from Northern Ireland who makes radical changes in her life for the betterment of her children or a woman who decides she needs to cheat on her husband, with his permission, to save a monotonous marriage. These are just a few of the stories. Bronson never sensationalizes his subjects, which may be why even if readers have little or nothing in common with some of the people, they'll still be moved by the stories. Bronson also adds a few editorial comments based on his observations or personal experiences, but overall he allows the people to tell their stories, and he merely (skillfully is more accurate) puts it in written form.

Readers of WHAT SHOULD I DO WITH MY LIFE may remember that while the book was praised, there were some criticisms that the book contained too many stories from well to do, usually white people, who could change careers without destroying their lives. While the praise and criticism of WHAT SHOULD I DO WITH MY LIFE? is well taken, that's not the case with this book. Readers will be surprised at the diversity in this book. People from a variety of races, religious traditions, and backgrounds are represented and readers come away with a deeper respect for the ties that bind us with those we usually love most, our families, and that even if these bonds can be imperfect and at times seriously flawed, the bonds are real and in many cases, last against a great deal of troubles.

I have read this book from cover to cover twice and find it one of the most inspirational collection of stories that I've seen in a long time. We are an era where so much emphasis is placed on negativity and opposing forces (i.e., countries at war, partisan politics, corporate greed, etc.) and it is assuring to know that the family unit, however it may be defined, is thriving. One of the differences between Po and other authors is that he CONNECTS with his subjects and shares their pain and triumphs as he learns about their individual situations. He is an author in the truest sense. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to become or remain a positive thinker, which is an essential factor in surviving in the world today. It is a no-brainer as a gift for anyone on your list.

I always enjoy Po Bronson's books, particularly the later ones, which have delved into the "big questions" of who are we, why do we do what we do, and how do we love. Many authors do this directly, but Po approaches this indirectly and on a small scale with anecdotal stories of real people. For me it becomes more moving, and certainly more real.

The people in the book are my heroes! It is so tough to keep living a life of integrity and love. Their stories made a real difference to me. I am so encouraged by their courage and persistence.

This book helped me once again to look at my own family and friends with fresh eyes, to see them as the unique individuals that they are. It reminded me again to value and love our family as they are, and not as we want them to be.

This is great reading. Bronson's style is informative and entertaining, his approach soft yet piercing, bringing up a disenchanted view of the intricated mechanisms of relationships that we call "family". It is pure storytelling that makes you think and dream, laugh, participate and compare. It is better than family counseling, and surely more fun.