Guru Ratings
Robert Bly
Bad.
Remember my ratings criteria. I’m not judging these gurus on “global” or moral values, but very specific criteria. Many of my favorite books would be rated “bad” by my criteria for self-help (probably, because they are not self-help books). My ratings don’t reflect how well an author met his own goals, but how well they met my criteria for useful, accurate self-help.
Iron John (1990)
Bly is not a self-help guru, but this book defined the Men’s Movement of the 1990s. Bly used the Grimm fairy tale of the same name to argue that modern men lack the mentors and character building they need to become real men.
Basically, he wants men to recover the “wild man” within. There’s little of practical value here.
Bly has a narrow vision of manliness. What about men who don’t want to be Bly’s vision of what a “real man” is? Are they lesser men?