The Pygmalion Project (Vol. III : The Idealist) (Love & Coercion Among the Types) [Paperback]

Stephen Montgomery (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 315 pages
• Publisher: Prometheus Nemesis Book Company (May 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0960695494
• ISBN-13: 978-0960695492
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #515,064 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dr Stephen Montgomery attended University of California, San Diego, graduating with honors from Revelle College in 1969, majoring in English Literature. He completed the Ph.D. program in English and American Literature at UCSD in 1977, and became an English teacher, at The Bishop's School in La Jolla, California in 1979 and was named teacher of the year in 1980.

While in graduate school, Steve edited Dr. David Keirsey's book, Please Understand Me, an internationally bestselling book for 40 years. Influenced by Dr. Keirsey's studies in temperament and madness, Steve's doctoral dissertation, in English literature traced the schizophrenic effects of paradoxical "double-bind" communication in Henry James's characters.

Becoming Editor-in-Chief for Prometheus Nemesis Book Company, Steve edited Dr. Keirsey's books, and wrote his own books, the Pygmalion Project Series: Volume 1, The Artisan; Volume 2, The Guardian; and Volume 3, the Idealist. He collaborated with Dr. Keirsey on the international bestselling book, Please Understand Me II, published in 1998. Steve wrote and published his book: People Patterns in 2002. Steve has become the de facto expert of Temperament in Literature.

He has collaborated with Dr. Brian Alman, a student of Milton Erickson, on the book Keep It Off (2004) and also is collaborating with Brian on his forthcoming book to be published in January 2011: The Voice: Discovering the Power of Your Inner Wisdom.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Groundbreaking!, May 22, 2000

By 

Jeff Borski (Del Mar, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Pygmalion Project (Vol. III : The Idealist) (Love & Coercion Among the Types) (Paperback)

This is an absolutely groundbreaking work by Mr. Montgomery. I saw myself so clearly in his portrait of the Counselor that I reread it three times and still could not believe that it was not written about me. To those who seem confused by the purpose of this book, I will warn you that it should be taken mainly as a companion to Keirsey's spectacular Please Understand Me. This book may be hard to follow for someone who has not first familiarized himself with the content of the aforementioned volume. Anyone interested in this subject should buy the two as a pair. Brilliant!

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Lots 'o style... some substance, November 30, 2001

By 

JK - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Pygmalion Project (Vol. III : The Idealist) (Love & Coercion Among the Types) (Paperback)

In Pygmalian Project v. III, Love and Coersion among the Types - The Idealist, Montgomery artfully shows us how famous literary characters display their type (the Idealist in this case) in their loving relationships, and the "survival games" that they play to change their loved ones into something akin to themselves.

All to often it is a story of a love-tragedy or mispent youth. If you are looking for some "nightstand reading" and are more of the scholarly reader then this is the book for you. For those of you looking for more explanation about why you are the way you are, I would refer you other MBTI / Keirsey type books.

While Montgomery's work is well executed, easy to read, and "fun", it offers little in the way of substansive knowlege on the subject.

On the other hand (and I am an ENFP) let me state that although I originally didnt like the stories / characters that Montgomery chose to focus on, I now have a new respect for those works and intend to go back and review them at my leisure.

Let me reiterate - if you are looking for famous literary figures and why they act they way they act then this is the book for you. If you are looking for "why do I play these games", then you would be better served by other texts.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Now I know why I was drawn to Tolstoy...., March 24, 2002

By 

OAKSHAMAN "oakshaman" (Algoma, WI United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Pygmalion Project (Vol. III : The Idealist) (Love & Coercion Among the Types) (Paperback)

Personally, I found this book to be amazingly accurate and perceptive. The personality type identification of various classic literary characters was completely accurate from my observations. Of course, you need to be somewhat well read to readily understand the literary references, but then most Idealists do tend to be readers.
For me, it was almost synchronistic, both the way the books and characters that I had been drawn to over the years were described, as well as, how the passages stated seemed to be echoes of my own thoughts or journals. As an INFJ, I was naturally drawn to Tolstoy, and now I know why.