Book Review: Wild At Heart

When I received this book to review from BookSneeze, I was reading another book so I gave it to my husband and asked him to read it.  The subheading, "Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul", seemed like something my husband might be interested in.   He took the book and spent a long time reading it.  I later learned that the reason it took him so long to read the book is because he found it rather boring.  My husband is a Christian and has read many Christian books so I knew this was not a good thing when he gave the book a thumbs down.

I took the book and read it while sitting in a hospital waiting room.  My father had a heart attack and our family spent many anxious hours in the hospital.  I felt a little uncomfortable reading a book that was written specifically for men.  Mr. Eldredge believes that deep in his heart, every man longs for a battle to fight, an adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue.  He says that most men in the church believe God put them on the earth to be a "good boy".  

Mr. Eldredge believes masculinity is something that is passed between men.  A boy cannot learn masculinity from other boys, and he cannot learn it from the world of women.  There was a segment in the book called "The Father-Wound" that I found especially touching.  A man named Dave remembers his parents were having an argument.  He felt like his dad was being verbally abusive so he took his mom's side.  His dad exploded and yelled, "You are such a mama's boy".   Dave's father took an ax and gave his hardest blow to his young tree.  My husband told me that he once had the same experience.

I didn't find this book inspiring or motivating.  The author made some interesting points and I am sure that some men have found the book helpful but it just wasn't for me.