Rating: 
Summary: What a Dilemma!: Men Love It, Scripture Lovers Hate It...
Review: When I first began reading "Wild at Heart," I was found in the awkward position of attempting to cuddle my wife, and at the same time cheer and pump my fist at the author's description (almost licensing) of the amusing piccadillos common to many men. Finally, a man who was attempting to say what many of us have felt for a very long time!Unfortunately, as I read on I was sorely disappointed. What I found is that Eldridge is yet another very intelligent author with interesting ideas, which he attempts to support by pulling in vaguely related scripture references, rather than pulling ideas about manhood from scripture. What I was left reading was a very amusing book with ideas quivering on flimsy theology. Eldridge also attempts to universalize his own thoughts, desires and experiences to every man. Needless to say, they are not universal. I am a great lover of battles, adventures, and beauties (well, one anyway!), so I had very high hopes for this book. Yet, I am first and foremost a great lover of the Lord and His Word, so was quite disappointed. I recommed it to be read only for the amusing and inspiring anecdotes.
Rating: 
Summary: Finally --- It's OK To Be A Man!
Review: Thanks, John, for FINALLY getting to the bottom of the whole "gender neutral" issue, and telling [us] guys that we're really OK to want to "adventure" through life! My brothers and I have been discussing most of the issues you deal with in this book for over a decade as we've grown into our "twenty- and thirty-something" years, and are now facing the very temptations that you expose in your book! Unlike many of the "man-to-man" authors who really "bait-and-switch" you with tough titles, then hammer you with "nice guy"/7-step/psycho/gobble-de-gook", WILD AT HEART gets right to the core of the Biblical reasons that God created men to be MEN. You deal with the "WHY" rather than just the "HOW", all the while keeping the material very God-honoring and Biblically-based. What a refreshing approach, John! Thanks for pouring your heart and soul into this one. It's my "first read" of your material, and I'm diving headlong into the rest. I HIGHLY recommend it!
Rating: 
Summary: theology sketchy, psychology pretty good
Review: it's more of a 3, barely 4 star book, but I gave it the 4 just to give it the benefit of the doubt. Eldredge tries too hard to say God is a certain way (fierce), and strays into some sketchy theology, although not heretical, IMHO. His understanding and insights into the male psyche are quite good, though, and this book will have something to offer for every man, I think. This book also reads a bit like a parenting book at times, and that's not a bad thing. Fathers should read this. Wives and girlfriends should read this to get a little bit of a peek into what some of us guys think about life and our goals, etc. By no means, though, does everything in this book apply to every man. But that should go without saying.
Rating:
Summary: Goes to the Heart
Review: This is one of the better books I've read. I've re-read it now and really believe that the message in this book hits at the heart of Christianity especially for the American culture. John is a fantastic writer, which makes reading his book a breeze...but what's more, the content is badly needed. I've benefited a lot. I think most guys could. In fact, I've given this book away 4 times already. The website deserves a look too...
Rating:
Summary: An eye-opening, perspective-altering experience
Review: Wow! I devoured this book and wanted more. Its rare that I read any books that potentially fall into the self-help realm. All too often they give you a feel-good experience that manages to disappear soon after you finish the book. Not so with "Wild at Heart." John Eldredge really touches a nerve, actually all your nerves and your heart, with his insights into manhood. As you read you will find yourself nodding in agreement and often smiling as you find that all men struggle with remarkably similar issues and thst its okay to have "wildness" in your heart. Mr. Eldredge succinctly examines the emasculation of the modern American man (be he Christian or otherwise), and validates many of the feelings men have today of being isolated and powerless. Its rare that I read a book and feel empowered afterward, but on completing this book I felt I was better prepared to face each day's challenges and felt I was a better husband, father, and man for having read it. The book is well organzied and easily accessible; its not a how-to so much as a "trust your hear and instincts" book. Making it even more enjoyable are frequent references to many modern-day films that make it resonate all the more with you as you read. Whether you are a Christian or not, if you are a man, you need to read this book. I have been buying additional copies and giving them to friends and family. I guess that is probably the highest comliment I can give this author and his work.
Rating: 
Summary: Wild at Heart Is Pretty Tame Stuff
Review: Let me come clean from the start: As far as I can tell, the "Wild at Heart" that I read has absolutely nothing to do with the book of the same name, by the same author, and inside the same cover that pretty much all other reviewers on this page are talking about. Almost every reviewer on this page is going to tell you either that this is a great book because it gets to the heart of what it means to be a Christian man, or they are going to tell you it's a horrible book because it promotes macho stereotypes and the denigration of women. Now, what about the book I read? In short, I found that it has much of value to say about being a Christian *person*, but little about being a Christian *man*, and I was repeatedly frustrated by its slavishly PC glorification of all things feminine. Eldredge gets off to a great start in his early chapters. In one great passage, he describes the plight of the man in the modern American church: "Christianity, as it currently exists, has done some terrible things to men....The problem with men, we are told, is that they don't know how to keep their promises, be spiritual leaders, talk to their wives, or raise their children. But if they try real hard they can reach the lofty summit of becoming ... a nice guy....Now let me ask my male readers: In all your boyhood dreams...did you ever dream of becoming a Nice Guy?" And then, in another passage: "Walk into most churches in America... and ask yourself...What is a Christian man? Don't listen to what is said, look at what you find there...You'd have to admit a Christian man is ... bored....Iasked [a guy in his fifties] so say what he thought that [the church's definition of a man] was...'Dutiful', he said. 'And separated from his heart.' " I wish I had more room for more quotes like this one. The first chapters are filled with them. At the heart of every man, Eldredge tells us, is the desire for a battle to fight, an adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue. Men, churched and unchurched alike, find gratification of these desires in unhealthy and immoral outlets because modern society does its best to make the healthy outlets unavaialable and, much worse, tells us the desires are all wrong in the first place. Why, for instance, does the unchurched teen boy spend his afterschool hours in fist fights? Because, in the eyes of society, even if he learned to fight with words instead of fists, and even if he fought for something like justice instead of his own bull-headedness, well, fighting is just plain wrong. No one wants to redirect his energies; everyone wants to bottle them up. And why does the churched teen boy refuse to stand up for himself, or his sister, or his girlfriend? Because he has been taught from day one that his masculine assertiveness is just wrong and the worst thing he can ever do is to let it see the light of day, no matter in what cause. Eldredge had me yelling, "You go, guy!" I understand now why women watch Oprah. But as Jack Nicholson's character says to his wise but unhelpful friend in "As Good As It Gets": "Look, I'm drowning here and all you're doing is describing the water!" Eldredge's solutions to the church man's problems are pretty much the same old thing we've heard before: Dedicate your life to God. Dedicate yourself to your family. Have your daily time alone with God. Someone out there is certainly going to say, "Gee, Sam, it's kind of hard to argue with that, isn't it?" Well, yes it is, and that's exactly the source of two problems. First, this is good advice for anybody, I should think, not just for men. If this is all Eldredge wanted to say, why did he say it in a book for *men*? Why not just give us another "Five Steps to Peace with God" book and be done with it? But second, and more to the point, Eldredge needs to take another look at the chuch's "nice guys" whose fate he bemoans. It apparently hasn't occurred to him that these "nice guys" -- OK, I'll fess up: *we* nice guys -- have been listening to these same exact words, and nothing else, our whole churchly lives long. And where has it gotten us? Exactly to the place that Eldredge believes -- OK, fess up again: that *we* believe -- to be so pathetic. Eldredge basically takes the well-heeled church "nice guy", slaps some blue face paint on him so he looks like one of those "Braveheart" warrior guys, and then tells him, "OK, now you can be REALLY nice!". Of course Eldredge deals with women too. It is a terrible irony to see that even in a book about and for men, written by an Evangelical Christian, we can't get away from the late twentieth century proclivity to worship the woman and blame the man for everything. Eldredge performs some horribly weak (but, in his defense, very common) exegesis on the Genesis creation story to "show" that Eve, and not Adam, is the pinnacle and crown of God's creation. He goes on to borrow from Larry Crab and others the highly questionable idea (Did I say "highly questionable"? I meant to say "downright silly".) that Eve's eating of the apple was really Adam's fault. And so human history unfolds ... Eldredge is, as to be expected, attuned to the great importance of fathers in the rearing of children. But here he sounds like a spokeperson from the NOW, consistently casting this importance in a negative light. To wit: Does a woman have emotional problems stemming from childhood? It's because her father never made her feel loved. Does a man have problems going way back too? It's because his father never bequeathed him his masculinity. So the woman is the best, and the man is always to blame. Why do I want to read this in a book for men? If this is what I wanted, I would join the women and watch Oprah. (Just a note, for what it's worth: Back in the eighties, when Minrith and Meyer were the counseling superstars of Evangelicaldom, the standard line was that the two most common psychological problems -- hysteria in women and obsessive compulsive behavior in men -- were generally caused by domineering mothers. I don't know whether Eldredge or M&M are closer to the truth, but it bothers me that alot of Evangelicals bought M&M hook, line and sinker way back then and will now, without even noticing the contradiction, do the same with Eldredge.) The book isn't all bad. Like I said, the first couple of chapters, where Eldredge describes the problem, are brilliant in places. There are a few gems to be found scttered here and there. For instance, I found it awfully refreshing when Eldredge allowed his first grader son to give a bully a good smack (though this really ticked off some other reviewers). And, let's face it, the advice to dedicate yourself to God can hardly be argued with. But, in the end, this is supposed to be a book to give men help in dealing with the situation in which they find themselves at the turn of the 21st century. And, sorry, but in that regard, "Wild at Heart" fails miserably.
Rating:
Summary: Unleash Your Adventuresome Spirit
Review: Wild at Heart has got to be the one of the best books of 2001. A friend of mine recommended it and I got a copy for Christmas. Once I started, I could not put the book down. Wild at Heart draws you in with vivid words and quotes from movies like Gladiator and Braveheart. It unleashes the adventuresome spirit within a man. I am constantly looking for good books to encourage and motivate men to perform their duties as husbands, fathers, and men, while drawing them closer to the Father. Wild at Heart shows us how to do that in a manner that Jesus would smile on. It shows us the common barriers in the way men often think and breaks them into little bite-sized chunks so we can move past them. Wild at Heart allows us to see why we have the adventuresome spirit, why God designed us the way we are and how we can use it in a positive manner. It takes poetry combined with prose and puts them into a format that anyone can understand. Whether macho, sensitive, or somewhere in between, this book will open the eyes of your heart and allow you to see yourself. There are times within Wild at Heart to laugh, to cry, to get angry and to get serious. With the way it is written, it is sure to become a Best Seller. I am going to buy multiple copies for several friends. The men love it due to the way it is written, the women love it due to the way it expresses men. On a scale of one to five, this book is a SIX.
Rating:
Summary: passionate,inspiring motivating and dangerous!!!!
Review: I imagine John Eldridge will come in for hard criticism with this book.His ideas are great but not politically correct.I could not agree more with his idea of what we are,how we are and where we naturally gravitate to , if we follow our real desires.I do agree with him also that it fits in very well with what we read in the bible and in our daily walk with the Lord.
It could be a little dangerous to read this book if your woman wants you as a sedated pet, because you won't be the same afterwards.I think for fathers with sons this is a must as for those in charge of child care facilities(to better understand the ways children play,and what they need to play).
If you want to live your spiritual life to the full as a warrior,if you want to teach your sons to reach out with confidence in a cruel and desparate world, you should read this book!
Rating: 
Summary: I am a man and I'm ashamed of this author
Review: This guy is out in left field. No, he's not even on the ballfield. He's in outer space. He starts with a premise that God made man in the wilderness and women in the garden. This is in contrast to Genesis 1 where God made a world that was perfect, until it was corrupted by man's original sin. Then we degenerated into killing animals and living in a wilderness when God kicked man out of the garden. Eldredge does stupid things like risk his son's lives by putting a canoe (for the first time ever) into a raging river at flood stage. He glorifies the cavemen images and glosses over what the Bible says about men. He mocks the safe men and glorifies the dangerous men. He forgets that God shunned Esau the wild man and chose Jacob, the mama's boy and soft-skinned conniver. Eldredge thinks men need to be warriors and fierce. Yet God told David he couldn't build the temple because he was a warrior. God granted that privilege to David's son Solomon, a philospher king, the wisest man ever. He twists the story of Ruth in the Bible and makes her out to be a scandalous seducer of men. My wife is a great Christian wife and she was very offended by this book. She doesn't need rescuing by Eldredge or anyone else. Eldredge mocks the character traits outlined for a woman in Proverbs 31. Once he degenerates into his theory that all men have a wound, he really goes off the deep end. He even gets so weird as to use an example a Costner movie in which they discuss the size of a child's genitalia. He recommends beating up bullies instead of turning the other cheek and its really a sad example of a man who has some desperate inner need to feel important and hope that other people believe him, thereby making him feel he knows what he is talking about. He goes off on tangents about how he would rather be William Wallace than Mother Teresa. Yet he bases his knowledge of William Wallace on the Braveheart movie and not on the biographies which paint a different picture of the man. I would actually encourage people who have a strong faith to read this book, then challenge others to avoid this false teaching and Hollywood movie theology. It's almost laughable, until you realize this guy probably really believes this. Pity the poor men and boys who take this to heart. They'll be headed for a seat in the therapists chair before long.
Rating:
Summary: Warped & A Step(s!) in the WRONG Direction
Review: This book takes what could be a good message to men ( for that matter- all humans) - Be strong- & warps it with a so much macho male stereotyping that I vacillated between disbelief & anger while reading it. The notion that to be strong a man must be "dangerous, wild & rescue a beauty" is ludicrous & simplistic. It reduces the wholeness of a man to a caveman image. There is so much depth & dimension to a man that if I were a man I would be insulted by this book. Great strength in a man comes from wisdom, humility, & love, along with a passion for life in whatever he has been given the desire to pursue. However this is true for a woman as well.
As a woman I AM insulted by this book. The references to women in this book reduce a woman to that of someone who is on this planet solely for a man. In addition women are said to be lonely, controlling and bitter because of their lineage from Eve- while Adam's great contribution to the male population is that he did not rescue her. The references to a woman needing to be rescued teach men incorrectly that women lack strength & teach women not to desire & develop strength from within themselves. I shudder to think of the impact on our daughters ( & sons) whose fathers take this to heart & encourage this type of thinking. I think a book on developing strength and character in a man, when written correctly, could make a wonderful read. This book does not.
| 
