Rating: 
Summary: The Cassette Set: Absolutely Outstanding!
Review: I'll try to keep this brief. Crucial to my journey these last ten+ years (age 50-60) has been steadily relistening to these tapes. Each time I 'hear' something new and provocative. If you care about personal growth, go for it with these tapes. Women: note that three of the four archetypes apply directly to you: warrior, magician and lover. And the 'king' has much in common with the 'queen'; -- so, don't hesitate -- it'll be one of the best purchases you've ever made. I've used these and their books as a springboard for some adult ed classes that I've taught in Hunterdon County, and also to flesh out important messages in the music of Garth Brooks (relating to the human journey)in a self-published book I wrote. This resource, plus Riso or Palmer on the Enneagram (q.v. @ amazon!), plus maybe the prodigal son story, are all you should ever need. Thank you Robert and Doug, and thank you amazon.com for making this forum available!
Rating:
Summary: The Brains Behind the Movement
Review: If you want to understand the underlying philosophy of the men's movement, New Warrior, and related activities, this is the book to read. This book, along with Bly's Iron John, launched the Men's Movement, and is the brains behind the movement--offering a psychology of growth and healing.
Rating: 
Summary: Prequel
Review: In such a slim volume, the authors did a splendid job of introducing the reader to their 4 male archetypes. They concisely describe these archetypes and provide some arguments for their theory and some applications of their findings. Moore is a Jungian psychologist and Gillette is a mythologist. It's an interesting and fertile collaboration of specialties. But, they simply cannot do justice to the 4 archetypes in one, tiny, volume. Thus, they wrote and published a volume on each of the 4 archetypes (5 books in all). Therefore, I'd consider this an introductory volume or prequel (a bit like the Hobbit to the Lord of the Rings trilogy). It's good in its own right, but better viewed as part of a much larger work. This larger work rates at least 5 stars. By the way, Dr. Moore has also produced numerous audio tapes for the C. G. Jung Institute of Chicago (I'm a life member) which you can buy (or rent if you join). He's a great speaker. In addition to listening to the tapes, I've heard him in person when he came to Maryland. Great drawl!
Rating:
Summary: Very thought provoking, conceptually elegant.
Review: My brother lent me this book, and I was quite prepared to not like it at all - it seemed at first to be one of those sappy men's movement books.However, once I started reading it I finished it in one long sitting. The concepts are simple and make sense. The core concept is that every man has varying amounts of King (representing the ability to bring order out of chaos, and a sort of benevolent use of power), Warrior( the ability to marshal resources, have courage, bear pain, make clear choices based on facts not emotions), Magician (or "alchemist" - concerned with knowledge and skill, and how to use it), and Lover (emotionally connected to others, having empathy). Each one of these attributes has many good qualities; they can turn negative however, in both active and passive ways. The book cogently explains the symptoms of this - this was the part of the book that made me think the authors knew what they were talking about, in that I saw myself and my co-workers in some of the examples.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting with a few very intriguing thoughts.
Review: This book is the introductory shortest book of a five book series. The succeeding books treat each of the elements of mature masculinity (King, Warrior, Magician, Lover) in one volume each. By far the most intriguing thought in the book for me is the authors assertion that what the problem with this world and men is that there is a overwhelming dominance of boyish, immature masculinity and hardly any mature, male masculinity.
To paraphrase the author: The world is full of boys pretending/playing to be men. The book begins with a short intro in the difference between immature boy psychology and men psychology and some of their manifestations. Then Mythology and Jungian psychology are used to explain and highlight the King, Warrior, Magician and Lover. For each the author explains and differentiates between their full expression and their 'distorted' hyper-expression and under-expression which are both inferior and negative. In general the focus was to much on the mythology part of the argument. I would have preferred a more psychology heavy treatment of the subject. But this is mostly a sign of the direction of my current interests. I would have as well wished there would have been more about how the boy vs men psychology manifestations differ and play out for each of the King, Warrior, Magician, Lover quartet. But maybe more of that can be found in the 4 other books of the 5 book series.
Rating:
Summary: An interesting read.
Review: This book made me look at the male
population differently than ever
before. There is a lot of truth
here. I can see the pattern the
authors are talking about every day.
This book was very enlightening for
me.
Rating:
Summary: Essential
Review: This is one of the most important books that I have ever purchased. I also read Iron John and feel almost as strong. It's been a year since I read KWML and I go back to it often. Since reading it more than a year ago, I have noticed that I now apply this knowledge, which benefits others around me, as well as myself. I can easily say that it has matured me in dramatic ways, opening pathways, giving me more confidence in my relationships with women on a personal level (the women I've dated) as well as on a professional level (the women I work with, for, etc.). It helps me to identify which men should mentor me and whom I should avoid. On a philisophical level, this brought new challenges in the face of a world unprepared or unwilling for the maturation of men. However, the rewards are great for you and those around you, because I now believe the greatest acheivement of man is his own maturation and I am confident that all your friends and loved ones, secretly cheer you on to that goal - the same way Arthur's kingdom flourished when he drank from the grail. Or perhaps how Christ calmed a raging sea. Seize this pearl.
Rating:
Summary: Essential
Review: This is one of the most important books that I have ever purchased. I also read Iron John and feel almost as strong. It's been a year since I read KWML and I go back to it often. Since reading it more than a year ago, I have noticed that I now apply this knowledge, which benefits others around me, as well as myself. I can easily say that it has matured me in dramatic ways, opening pathways, giving me more confidence in my relationships with women on a personal level (the women I've dated) as well as on a professional level (the women I work with, for, etc.). It helps me to identify which men should mentor me and whom I should avoid. On a philisophical level, this brought new challenges in the face of a world unprepared or unwilling for the maturation of men. However, the rewards are great for you and those around you, because I now believe the greatest acheivement of man is his own maturation and I am confident that all your friends and loved ones, secretly cheer you on to that goal - the same way Arthur's kingdom flourished when he drank from the grail. Or perhaps how Christ calmed a raging sea. Seize this pearl.
Rating:
Summary: A concise guide to the male psyche & man/boy archetypes
Review: Using common terminology and examples from contemporary movies, this book easily leads the reader through the thick, dense forest of archetype psychology as applied to the lives of present day men. Superbly delineating between aspects of boy psychology and their counterparts in mature men, the book also identifies factors critical to male psychic development that are severely at risk in our technology-driven, consumer oriented culture. Much of what the authors present can be extrapolated to girl/woman psychology.
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