Same Difference: How Gender Myths are Hurting Our Relationships,
Our Children and Our Jobs. By Rosalind Barnett and Caryl Rivers (Basic
Books)
Stereotypes about the differences between women and men may be
based on flimsy evidence, but taking them seriously can do real damage to
our relationships and careers. Both men and women pay a steep price.
Blending case histories, new research and thoughtful analysis, the
writers describe the divide between the sexes as a crevice, not a chasm.
The good news: We're all a lot more flexible than the gender cliches let
on.
Why We Lie: The Evolutionary Roots of Deception and the Unconscious
Mind. By David Livingstone Smith (St. Martins)
We lie to ourselves and others, Smith says, because we have evolved
to do it. We can't shut off the habit any more than a chameleon can
decide to stop changing color. Our sending out important but socially
dubious signals is such subtle work that our subconscious won't let us in
on its game for fear that we'd muck it up. Smith freely admits that his
conclusions require a leap of faith, but they are intriguing to
entertain.
The Great Failure: A Bartender, A Monk and My Unlikely Path to
Truth. By Natalie Goldberg (HarperSanFrancisco)
With the spare, graceful prose you'd expect from a Buddhist writing
teacher, Goldberg comes to terms with an invasive dad and a revered Zen
teacher, who, as it turns out, was no saint. The relative tameness of the
two betrayals that send the author spinning into self-doubt means the
book sometimes reads like teen-diary melodrama. Goldberg's realization
that her two idols are only too human, a smattering of Buddhist
philosophy and absorbing tales of her father's colorful milieu ultimately
redeem this memoir.
Better Off: Flipping the Switch on Technology. By Eric Brende
(HarperCollins)
MIT grad student Brende goes off the grid, moving in with a
Mennonite-style farm community in an effort to prove that life is better
without technology. He learns threshing, buggy-driving, barn-building and
many other old-timey skills, but doesn't seem to learn much about the
meaning of the simple life. Despite the tough lessons, he ends his stint
on the farm with the same platitudes that got him started.
Why Do They Act That Way? A Survival Guide to the Adolescent Brain
for You and Your Teen. By David Walsh, Ph.D., with Nat Bennett (Free
Press)
Your teen's moodiness is more than a product of hormones and peer
pressure, says Walsh. Although his first chapters deliver a good primer
on the brain's structural changes, what follows are tired topics like how
to talk to kids about puberty, sex and drug abuse. Many parents will not
find much new information.
The Mind at Work. By Mike Rose (Viking)
What do cognitive processes and carpentry have in common? A lot,
according to Mike Rose. Part chronicle of the working class, part
scientific analysis, this book attempts to overturn widely held ideas
about ordinary professions by delving inside the minds of waitresses,
plumbers and hairstylists.
A quick, yet informative, beach read.
Tags:
adolescence,
betrayals,
buddhist philosophy,
caryl rivers,
case histories,
david livingstone,
david livingstone smith,
deceit,
eric brende,
flimsy evidence,
gender myths,
graceful prose,
harpersanfrancisco,
leap of faith,
natalie goldberg,
relationships,
self doubt,
steep price,
subtle work,
teen diary,
thoughtful analysis,
unconscious mind,
zen teacher
