THE SECRETS MEN KEEP

by Ken & James Simmons Druck ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 18, 1985

Perhaps Druck has his finger on the pulse beat of the American male. If so, what he has to tell us is crucial. The ideas are unoriginal, but possibly liberating--men are victims of their role in society and of their unreconciled differences with Mom and Dad. Liberation from the ""macho"" strictures would make a real man realer--gentler, wiser, more open, happier. What Druck suggests as therapy is within reason and as easy to take as an old 2-cent plain. One can imagine Freud nodding avuncularly. Popular psychology is as necessary to average Americans as Twinkies and Coke. Our psyches need such books as an addict needs drugs. Druck's book is part of the genre, but his sincerity is such that one feels he may be a doctor as interested in healing as in a buck. He grieves for men and he rejoices in their potential. He feels that they can become not only better men, but fuller human beings. If that is Pop Psych, then make the most of it. There are exercises, credos, checklists galore, but they are easily skipped if not relevant. He has provided us with guideposts that stimulate reflection. For instance, he gives us amusing and perceptive lists, i.e., ""Seven Types of Fathers"" and ""Eight Benefits of a Reconciliation with Father."" Many men may have trouble making the shoe fit, but there is enough to hold the reader. There are many other guideposts and all succeed in laying out the father-son terrain. There is also an addendum of mother-wife, but this book is a ""sons and lovers"" of the father-son relationship. It is, nevertheless, a helpful guide and often provocative. Unfortunately, the very men who could be most helped by it are those too macho to read it. Too bad, because there is enough here to lighten their load and make their lives a bit sweeter.

Pub Date: Oct. 18, 1985

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1985

Categories: NONFICTION