Great review of “User’s Manual”
Great review of A User’s Manual for the Human Experience.
from Chicks Who Read.
bqueenbandit
Book Title: A User’s Manual for the Human Experience
Author: Michael W. Dean
Release Date: 2009
Review Off the bat I have to say that Dean’s book $30 Film School changed my life, so I’ve been following his blog and new releases ever since. Even though the self-help subject of this book wasn’t a field I was interested in, I bought it anyway. I ended up enjoying it a lot more than I figured I would.
The book is basically a two-parter. The first and biggest section focuses on how to recover from co-dependency of toxic people and dependency of alcohol and drugs. I can’t say much on the latter subject, but I do know that on the topic of toxic people, I wish I had a time machine, this book, and a heavy set of boots. That way I travel a few years back, hand my past self this boot, and give myself a swift kick in the ass. Reading it now I’ve mostly just nodded and winced in hindsight, though a few of his techniques I’ve put into place recently with great success.
The second part is how to make the best use of your time after all the toxic people are gone. It’s a smaller section than the first but has lots of helpful tidbits about time management and how to work toward making a living though your own creations. It’s one part tech book, one part cheerleader, and one part drill sargent.
Now here’s the caveat. There’s a hearty dose of politics injected into the book and lots of sprinklings of spirituality. If you’re hardline into your concept of God, either that he has a very set biblical definition or that he’s an Invisible Sky Wizard, you might get turned off. And also there’s a lot of talk about self-defense and guns, which I know can be a touchy subject for people for a variety of reasons. Growing up in West Virginia, I have a healthy respect for guns that coupled with my other ideals gets me dicked over by both major political parties (that’s a whole nother subject), but I can understand that other people might get wary of all the gun talk. There were a few ideas he went into that I didn’t necessarily agree with, but I find that it’s always good to things you don’t agree with to keep yourself in check and - gasp - maybe change your mind or get exposed to a new idea.
What I liked best about the book was its conversational tone. Dean isn’t afraid to get heavy and dark sometimes, but also has a sense of humor. The book doesn’t read like a textbook at any point, which is definitely a kudos. A lot of the self-help bs gurus haven’t really lived the sort of life they’re trying to correct in others, but Dean’s talked about some of his struggles in previous books, so you know he’s legit.
To be honest, my biggest pain point was that it sometimes gets into jargony territory, and that’s something I’m willing to overlook. If you’re trying to get out of a bad relationship of any type, I will literally mail you a copy of this book. I’ve already lent it out to some of my friends I thought needed it.
Like/Dislike: Liked most of it, reconsidered the few parts I didn’t
January 24th, 2010 at 8:06 pm
Hey! I’m glad that you liked my review (I was a little worried you wouldn’t). I’m actually literally getting ready to mail my copy out to a friend who’s trying to break away from a co-dependent relationship with her family and really hope it helps her out.
I’m in the camp that first got exposed to you via $30 Film School and DIY or DIE (which the 1-2 punch of those got me into filmmaking… thanks btw), but I think it’s pretty silly that all these people are in such an uproar over what basically boils down to that you dare to have a personal life. I mean, you can dig somebody’s work even if you don’t agree with them on every freaking life issue.
I threw the caveat in there because I know some people on the board might not dig the gun talk. My politics are all across the boards. I think living in West Virginia skews it a lot, because even the most far-left libs I know are ok with guns, and more than a couple of them have one. When you grow up with one in your house, you aren’t totally afraid of them and don’t flip out and demonize them.
January 24th, 2010 at 8:10 pm
yay! Glad to hear from you.
MWD
January 25th, 2010 at 5:21 pm
Also, thank you for correcting my typo. =)
My goal is to read 20 books this year, and it seems like I’m off to a decent start. It might not seem like a big goal, but I’m not much of a reader. I feel that if I can reach that one, I’m a lot more likely to exceed it.
January 25th, 2010 at 5:24 pm
Molly,
That’s a good goal.
I’ve been so busy writing books that I haven’t read one in a long time, until recently. I’m reading “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress” by Robert Heinlein. I highly recommend it.
MWD