The Wonder of Boys: What Parents, Mentors and Educators Can Do to Shape Boys into Exceptional Men

by Michael Gurian

Book Overview

"THE WONDER OF BOYS is a provocative book that electrifies the debate over how this nation raises sons."
-- USA Today

In this insightful and practical book, Michael Gurian describes what boys need to become strong, responsible, sensitive men. Instead of encouraging us to stifle boys' natural propensities for competition and aggression, Gurian offers effective and practical guidelines for channeling them. He shows how the...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1585425281
• ISBN13: 9781585425280
• Release Date: September 2006
• Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.78 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 9.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Moms need not take offense...

Gurian has done an astoundingly thorough job in addressing the issues many of us face in raising boys today. I have read other books about raising boys, including other books by Gurian (also good), but this one by far is the most comprehensive, thoughtfully put together book I've ever read. I think that anyone who is thoughtful about raising sons and committed to doing the best job possible should take a good look at this book and give serious consideration to his ideas. Gurian admits in this book that he does not have all the answers and is constantly working to refine his suggestions. I love what he has done and how he has done it, by actually talking with many families and kids around the world, and using this information, along with neuroscience, and his rich cultural background and education to formulate these suggestions. The book is based on the unique testosterone driven neurological needs if males. It explains this in detail and how to best support a boy's development and channel a boy's natural aggression into a positive and constructive way of life through out the different stages of development. If you do not believe in the idea of "testosterone driven neurological needs" of boys, then this book may not be for you. But there have been many studies done that have shown the differences in male and female brains and much experiential evidence that there are differences. Any teacher and parent I have asked who has both sons and daughters attests to these differences. Again, if you are a parent of boys and committed to doing the best job you can, this book deserves a sincere look, and these ideas, serious consideration. I do see this book as a passionate advocate for boys and maleness, but NOT as male over female promoting. Near the beginning of the book, it strives to dispell the common impression that girls are the ones in crisis by comparing staticstics about girls to those of boys. But the intent I got from it is the presentation of a reality check about the state of our boys, and a plea for change because of the crisis we have on our hands of delinquent boys. But, if I could change one thing about the book, it would be how this plea is presented - fewer comparisons to girls. I think the statistics for boys are revealing enough on their own. Yes, it does point out how mothers, society, and even fathers and other males can and do unwittingly harm boys' development, but I did not take offense to this because I see this book as a very practical, caring, and passionate guide to raising boys. If read in its entirety, readers would see that Gurian SUPPORTS mothers, holds them in the highest esteem, and sincerely calls for increased respect and support for mothers from family and society. Some reviewers have pointed out that he does little to promote the intact family. He does mention this to be the ideal case in most circumstances. But he is also saying that in the absence of this ideal situation, or in the abs

The Rest of the Story

Many people who grew up or lived through the 70's gender identity crisis here in the US have adopted certain kinds of stories about the relationship between men and women. Women are the victims of male oppression. Women need to be protected from men. Often cited in support of this view are studies that show girls don't get called on as often as their male classmates, women are discriminated against in the workplace and suffer from unfair expectations about the division of labor at home. While it is true that we can improve the lot of women in society, Gurian makes the argument that we should avoid thinking that because society has been unkind to women, it must be nice to men who are the villians of society. Society isn't very kind to boys either: Boys, not girls, are more likely to be victims of violent crime in school; on average, girls today have higher educational aspirations than their male classmates, as many boys aspire to manual labor jobs like carpentry or plumbing; girls, not boys have better self-esteem through most of their school years; girls, not boys tend to get better grades overall; in total, there are more women in graduate programs in the US than men. Even today, when we send citizens to fight in wars, those armed forces are predominantly male. Lastly, societal expectations and norms both at home and at work prevent many men in the US from enjoying fully who they are as humans... rewarding them for being the "strong silent types" who deny their emotions and are not allowed to develop fully their social skills in a way that expresses their unique qualities as men. Society isn't treating most men very well either. Gurian's book makes the case that the path to a healthier society involves improving conditions for boys as well. For both men *and women* who are interested in improving gender relations in their community or even just understanding the male half of the population, this book is a well-written, thought-provoking read.

'Boys and Girls are different' is a dangerous idea?

Some time ago I read this book and found it to be incredibly insightful. Not only did it help me understand my sons better, but I also came to understand myself better as well. I so enjoyed it that I came back to this review page recently to find suggestions of other books of this type. I was shocked to see that the rating had dropped precipitously since I'd first read it, brought down by a batch of scathing reviews. I noticed that they all sounded strangely the same - using hyperbolic, if not hyperventilating rhetoric, nearly all of them charging the book with "misogyny". As if championing the role of a father in a boy's life is somehow "woman-hating." Or suggesting that boys will be boys, so why don't we channel their natural aggression into positive activities is "dangerous". Naturally, most of these attackers did not cite examples (those who rely on name-calling and invective rather than reasoned thought never do.) There was one exception, though she completely misrepresented the author's point. I hope those of you considering this book are guided more by the reviews that actually discuss the ideas in the book, rather than those reviews poisoned by political agenda. This is an important book well worth your consideration.

A GREAT BOOK!!

After reading so many negative reviews of this book written by females, it made me want to immediately go out and get it. I did. The problem with our modern society is that we just do not want to face the natural FACT that males and females ARE different. Do not say that out loud, however, or you will be branded a chauvinist. Today's adolescent males are scared, confused and insecure. I wonder what has caused this. (Not really) We still encourage females to BE females, be proud of it and be as much a contributing member of the business world as men have always been. With boys, however, we do not encourage. We tell them what they SHOULD NOT do. We teach them, subconsciously, that they are now to pay for the centuries of repression of women committed by what one of my students termed, "a bunch of dead white guys." Thus, we have self-assured, confident women and insecure, weak men. No one really believes that men are put on the earth to dominate women, men are stronger, men are better and all that rubbish. I don't agree with previous readers fears that this book is dangerous because it will lead to a perpetuation of the "John Wayne" mentality. That is the opinion of fools. If you want someone to "tell it like it is," without the psychobabble that really says nothing at all, get this book.

The very best book about boys on the market.

This is a well balanced and important book about boys. In fact, considering the violence that our society's boys are acting out, this is the only book on the market that really explains how we can help boys to become healthy in all ways. I found Pollack's book to be the same-old, tired tirade about how we should just let boys cry, but frankly that is a one-note argument (not to mention 20 years out of date). I find it astonishing that so many people deny the role of biology in our behavior, as if testosterone had no effect on boys. Please, can we get over the politically correct arguments of old and understand that it is both nurture AND nature? This is the only book that seems to support this. Besides, the biology part of this book is only one aspect (a fact lost on some of these other readers, making me wonder if they really read this book or are just ignoring the wisdom found in this book because it doesn't echo their tired arguments?). And despite some suspiciously well-planted Pollack-positive comments here, Gurian gives a well-balanced and inclusive look at all of the ways that we can support our boys. Instead of making it an either-or argument, read them all and make up your own mind.