Personal Development
Reading
List
(updated 2000/08/03)
Beagle, Peter, The Last Unicorn, 1968, Viking Press
A great work of literature. For a real treat, after you
read
the
book, get a copy of the book-on-tape with Mr. Beagle himself reading
the
book: 1993, Penguin-HighBridge Audio, ISBN 0-453-00832-1.
Berne, Eric, Games People Play, 1959
The best introduction to the games people play and a way to
understand
them. A classic not to miss.
Brady, Joan, God on a Harley, 1995, Pocket Books
ISBN
0-671-00278-3
A woman who at 37 has become unhappy indeed. Then she meets God,
who
rides
a Harley Davidson motorcycle. He shows her how to clean up her life.
Sound
corny? It's good! A patient put me on to it. They'd been passing it
around
in their family.
Buss, David M., The Evolution of Desire—Strategies of
Human
Mating,
1994, Basic Books ISBN 0-465-07750-1
This is a report on a series of studies involving 10,000 subjects
in
137
cultures worldwide. They found out about why we do what we do in
courtship,
and after. Incredibly useful. People who have read this keep returning
to it for pointers on how to handle themselves, and how to understand
what
they see happening.
De Becker, Gavin, The Gift of Fear—Survival Signals
That
Protect Us
From Violence, 1997, Little, Brown and Company ISBN 0-316-23502-4
The book that every woman needs to survive. The book that every
man
needs
to read to understand why women fear parking garages. The book that
treats
instincts with respect and teaches us how to stop worrying about
phantom
threats so we can feel the things we really need to be afraid of.
Finally,
a book that teaches, in a brief aside, what we must do to rescue
budding
monsters (boys) from their fate, so we will not have to fear them in
the
future. This book guides my practice.
Harragan, Betty Lehan, Games Mother Never Taught You,
1977 Warner
Books ISBN 0-446-34400-1
This book tells you how to cope with the male-derived culture of
American
business. Written for women ("Corporate Gamesmanship for Women", the
cover
says), it is indispensable for all. In its umpteenth printing.
Milgram Stanley, Obedience to Authority, 1974,
Harper
& Row
A chilling empirical study. This is the
one
where they actually persuaded ordinary citizens to deliver what they
thought
were high voltage electrical shocks to "subjects", just because
someone
told them to.
Shapiro Joan, M.D., Men --- A Translation
for
Women,
1992, Avon (paperback) ISBN 0-380-72004-3
She has us men totally nailed. Extremely valuable in the therapy
of
both
men and women, for therapists, clients and patients.