A Guy's Guide to Life - How to Become a Man in 224 Pages or Less is certainly a catchy title which the author admits is the reason for the title; not that reading a book will actually get the job done. The book focuses on three aspects of becoming a man - changes in mind, body and soul.
The author begins with a quiz about manliness followed by stereotypes and myths of the same. He discusses peer pressure, the importance of communication (both with parents and girls) and being a gentleman. In the chapter on dating, he is realistic in stating that most teen relationships won't lead to marriage. He does have sensible rules for dating including respect, dating in groups, and staying away from danger zones. Unfortunately he has a negative attitude toward courtship which means conservatives may not be willing to buy this book for their son.
The section on body includes practical tips on shaving, how to tie a tie, and an entire chapter on body building. I felt there was too much focus on muscle building and not enough on just being physically active. The chapter on sex was handled well with explaining things without being graphic. It was very clearly stated that sex is for marriage and that pornography is wrong; he was a bit wishy-washy on other topics. There was even a chapter to help guys understand what girls go through in puberty.
The third section about the soul discusses family, friends, neighbors and faith. There is good advice for dealing with difficult and not so difficult family situations as well as tips for friendship with both guys and gals and how to be a good neighbor including very doable realistic suggestions. The chapter on faith is a bit awkward for me as a Catholic since at times it made it sound like grace washes away your sins just by virtue of the fact that you are a Christian. As a Catholic, I believe that grace does that BUT we need to ask for forgiveness and be truly repentant.
I'm still torn if I will give this to my 17 year old son as my gut tells me he's not interested in a book of this type like my daughter was at his age. Overall it's a decent book for high school teens.
This book was provided to me by BookSneeze for my reading pleasure and review opportunity.
2 comments:
How does he define courtship, and what's his problem with it?
courtship - "it means that guys and girls get together -- with their families' permission and involvement--solely for the purpose of getting married."...then he goes on to say "This courting relationship is intended to be the only romantic relationship each person has before marriage--with no physical or emotional intimacy allowed, until the honeymoon-- and it's chaperoned throughout by the couples' parents.
Again--and not to be disrespectful -- yeesh"
He then ends the section by saying "The trick is to develop those meaningful relationships (and, eventually, to break them off) without hurting each other in the process. (referring to dating)
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