Customer Reviews

The Seasons of a Man's Life

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Reading about the "seasons of a mans life" has been a complete and life-changing revelation. No one ever teaches us about adult development, mid-life crisis, coping with transition. They are often joked about but seldom discussed. Reaching mid-life proved to be no joke for me and being unprepared led to a personal crisis. This book played a major part in helping me understand the changes I was going through and provided clear insights that I believe I would not have found elsewhere. Clearly written; the book addresses every stage of adulthood with convincing theories about the emotional and psychological changes which we all have to cope with.

You can't ask much more from a book than that it changes your life.

Or more correctly, it helps you change your life. I first read this book during my last transition ten years ago, and I'm reading it again for this one. It made all the difference last time, and I'm dipping into the same well a decade later.

Levinson reasoned that while Piaget and Freud had well documented the stages of development of infants and children and adolescents, it mostly stopped at 20. It's as if that's it--you're all grown up now!

He thought perhaps there were changes, phases and stages of adult life akin to those of children. When he researched this with a large number of American males he was surprised to find just how consistent they are.

You can almost set your watch--oops! 25 years old! Time to find a mentor! Ooops 55 years old! Time to be a mentor!

The major transitions he identified at the decade turnovers. They seem to be times of significant discomfort, questioning, reassessment, and redirection in a man's life. They are followed by a period of consolidation and stability--until the next transition ten years later. While the transitions are different for each person and the results are different for each person, each of us in our way goes through them. The "mid-life crisis" he calls the "mid-life transition", since it's only a crisis if you don't get through it well.

This is not a particularly easy read (Gail Sheehey's "Passages" is easier), but if you, or someone you know is trying to figure out "what next?" try this book.

Hey, it worked for me.

Great book, great read for everyone. Author discusses the primary phases of adulthood in great detail, and very thought provoking way. Book discusses the life cycle as several distinct phases that we all go through one way or another. Having going through a transition myself, reading "Seasons" is an eye opener. If anything the more you know about your own transition, the better you can deal with it. Also, the phases help in understanding others too. Season's work will no doubt last for many generations to come.

When I was looking for books along this line, I saw the review titled "This book provides insights that could save your life" and thought that this book might be the one to read. It was. This book can be a life-saver, literally. It certainly made a huge impact for me.

The book may be a bit too much for a person to read unless they like psychology. No, it is not hard reading, it just may be too much material unless you were looking for specific advice. Although you may be tempted to jump to your immediately applicable section, I would suggest reading chapter 2 (on men's different eras) before doing that.

The author has a friendly, mature, informed approach. It is analytical, yet comforting. Certainly a book to recommend for men in your life that are going through changes.

This book is not a bad read if you're wanting help to make sense of things. I was surprised when I began the book that it was written almost forty years ago so it was kind of difficult to put into perspective. There's alot of clinical observation as well that made the book kind of dry in my opinion. The biographical narratives were interesting & insightful however, and I did enjoy reading those.

A very good book, however my copy is quite old, and ofcourse so I am...(58). I wish it was more thorough and covered a greater breadth of ages, but I'm not yet finished reading the entire book; maybe, it will surprise me.

Robert Bly says "Men are deep." Levinson demonstrates the truth of that. He further makes the concepts of male development accessible and understandable. His premise is not that men are broken, and therefore need fixing, but rather that male behavior can be understood developmentally, as they pass through their predictable phases of growth. I especially recommend this book to every woman who has a man she feels must change.

Book in perfect shape for 35 years old and for 9 cents.
Couldn't have asked for a better deal.

A book everyman age 30 to 50 should read to understand himself better, and to understand that he is experiencing the same issues as others.

Pleased that the seller's description of the overall condition was accurate. Pleased with the speed of shipment.