[.ca] The Anger Habit: Proven Principles to Calm the Stormy Mind (ISBN 1402203349)

This book changed my life:
This book changed my life. I did not realize I was an angry person until I read this book. The truth hit me like a ton of bricks, and nothing has been the same since. I didn't realize that my emotional issues were actually a "safe" front for what was really deep and long-term anger. After reading a chapter of the book, however, I could see the truth, and just recognizing my anger has done much to dissipate it. However, I also now know I can interrupt the frustration to ask myself what it is I really want control over. Since reading the book, I have done exactly that, over and over. This book -- along with "The Dance of Anger" -- has been so helpful in my life -- to everyone in this house, I cannot adequately describe the change. I give this book my highest recommendation.

Requires some digging:
Although the book has many helpful ideas, it isn't what I call straight forward. I prefer clearly deliniated principles that can be applied to unique situations. Many principles can be extracted here, but are buried in a format that is not to my liking. One could take the "alternative" responses Semmelroth and Smith give to the various scenarios they have chosen too literally as the "correct" or "only" responses, rather than as a guide, which I think is their intent. I found Semmelroth's The Anger Habit Workbook much more useful. It can be used as a stand-alone book that doesn't really need this book as a first-read.

a fantastic, challenging book:
this is an eye-opening book. I'm a therapist and highly recommend it to anyone interested in grappling with one's own(or others') anger. I found some of the writing perhaps needlessly dense, but much of it was compact and eloquent. The letter-writing format, in my view, worked; it was a novel approach to a subject that's been rendered dry and dull in more conventional structural formats. In a word, this is just a flat-out, great book--a profound, startling meditation on anger.

How did anyone find this helpful?:
I read this book over the course of two days. At 140 pages (rather typical for a one-trick pony self-help book) it was easy to digest. However instead of assisting with my anger, I merely became more angry - at having spent money on this book. Much of the advice is relegated to semi-fictional discussions with patients. The advice is catered to their situations and circumstances. They do not cover enough breadth or depth to be of help to anyone other than those who fall into those archetypes. Many of the chapters concluded with a phrase or vibe similar to "now you can see...". Well no, no I cannot. I did not see how many of the stories lead to their conclusions at all. The "solutions" generally revolve around identifying the anger. The actual coping mechanisms are thin, trite, or outright laughable. The authors appear to believe that merely identifying why you are angry will correct the angry behavior. Reading this book did give me one insight into my own behavior, but it was somewhat indirect, and offered no advice for correcting it.

Good ideas, but not written in a pleasing, accessible style:
This book expresses several intriuging ideas about anger. It can be very helpful for those who are already willing and able to decipher "psychology-speak." The successful reader will also be able to take some rather esoteric ideas and relate them to their own life situation. I find the book's organization to be weak (and kind of weird), and the pseudo-examples to be meandering (and kind of weird). These guys clearly have useful - potentially life transforming - information to share. It would be nice if they could get out of their own collective way and just say it!