Rating: 
Summary: Long-winded but decent advice.
Review: My Comments:
I don't know that giving a summary of the book is feasible, so I'll just point out a few things that I liked and didn't like. First, the book is huge, 385 pages. Admittedly what Satir has to say is important and perhaps even very beneficial to some people, but I highly doubt anyone but the seriously interested in psychological self-help will wade their way through every page of this book - even though the type is big and there are gobs of pictures. Perhaps this will sound demeaning to Americans but we (I'm American too) seem to like answers that come in small packages; this is not a small package answer. I guess what I'm saying is that she could have covered all of the information in about half the space - cutting out a lot of unneeded stuff.Now something positive: I think the content is pretty good. Satir has simplified her message to where the educated layperson can read it and omitted all of the psycho-babble. The advice she gives really reads like common sense, but that is the subtlety of the message - it sounds just like the way that things should be (for the most part) which, to me at least, means she is probably on the right track. There are a couple of other things about the book that I didn't particularly like. First, near the end of the book Satir starts giving advice on how to attain world peace and how to solve the world's problems. Well, she's a family therapist and not a political scientist or a sociologist - she is out of her league here. What really drives the point home (pun is intended as you will see) is that she compares everything - national governments, international societies, etc. - to families. I guess when you only have a hammer (family therapy experience), everything begins to look like a nail (solving world hunger, ending the use of war to resolve conflicts, etc.) and can be solved the same way. Satir may know quite a bit about families, but I really didn't buy her advice on solving world problems. Satir also discusses the notion of spirituality. Now, what makes this so interesting is that she seems to think that spirituality and understanding spirituality are very important for resolving mental health and family relations issues, as a matter of fact, I believe she calls it the most important thing that people can do to get healthy. But she only spends one chapter discussing spirituality. I'm guessing that she realizes that her book will absolutely not appeal to 'a'-spiritual people if she emphasizes spirituality too much so she cut the chapter short and left it at that. Well, maybe that was a good decision. There are three more things I'll mention briefly and then I'm done. First, the concept of a healthy family is a relative one. She makes attempts to rationalize why her conception of a 'healthy' family is the right one, but they aren't particularly convincing. But, keep in mind, her conception is likely the societal norm; the point I am trying to make is that she doesn't do a good job of arguing her perspective. This leads to her biases. She doesn't reveal them until the end, but we end up finding out that she is a pacifist and feminist in either the last or second to last chapter. In my opinion, things like that should be revealed up front. Again, keep in mind that I don't disagree with those perspectives or opinions, I just think she should have revealed her biases at the beginning of the book instead of at the end. Lastly, she has a tendency to make broad, sweeping statements about the way things are (how families were in the late 1800s for example) and fails to cite any references to back up her claims. Sure, this is a self-help book for the layperson, but this leaves the scholar wanting for evidence for her claims. Overall, like I said above, I think the book has good advice. Whether or not it will make a difference for people pr families, I don't know. If you have to read the whole thing to change, then probably not; it's just too long. The exercises she suggest sound interesting, but I don't have any kids and most of them are designed around kids. Those that are for couples, well, I guess I could try them, but I think my relationship with my significant other is pretty good, so I'll pass for now and if there are problems, perhaps I'll pull it back out in the future. If you really think that you would be willing to use the exercises and you are committed to reading a very long book, perhaps this will help. If you are looking for a quick fix (which is not likely to help anyway), then don't waste your time or money because it isn't until you are willing to really work to make things better that something like a self-help book like The New Peoplemaking will make a difference.
Rating: 
Summary: Annoying
Review: Okay I listened to the rave review that "The New Peoplemaking" got here on Amazon so I bought the book. Before I say anything bad about the book I thought that the parts dealing with past-present transference (feelings about someone you knew in the past were good (transfering that to the present with someone you think is similar) Also I thought the section on negative communication styles was very good (the author could have gone into more depth with each style instead of making them into sweeping generalizations).
However, I couldn't finish this book the exercises were way too ridiculous and moreover part about viewing the world from the eyes of a baby quite frankly made me want to gag it was so long and irrelevant. After getting past page 238 I literally could not stand reading another page.
Rating: 
Summary: Everything you knew but couldn't put into words
Review: Satir does a really good job of saying what should be common sense but isn't. She explains everything with such a passion and complete honesty so the book is always interesting. If not for the ideas she talks about, then for the way she says them. She has a very interesting sense of humor and her book is hilarious to read out loud because the sound of it is somewhat ridiculous. Her statements not only make sense, but also make you think. She relates all the problems in the world back to someone's low self-esteem and poor communication skills. At points she drones on and on, somewhat overdoing the point she was making and her exercises are quite strange and seemily awkward. I personally don't think they would work well without outside help because I don't think all family members would be willing to participate without someone making them in most families. In general, her ideas are timeless, although parts refering to technology and politics at the time it was written are outdated. This book explains how humans interact and where problems exist very thoroughly and I highly recommend it to anyone wishing to improve their relationships, as long as they can read beyond her words and corny phrases.
Rating:
Summary: Everything you knew but couldn't put into words
Review: Satir does a really good job of saying what should be common sense but isn't. She explains everything with such a passion and complete honesty so the book is always interesting. If not for the ideas she talks about, then for the way she says them. She has a very interesting sense of humor and her book is hilarious to read out loud because the sound of it is somewhat ridiculous. Her statements not only make sense, but also make you think. She relates all the problems in the world back to someone's low self-esteem and poor communication skills. At points she drones on and on, somewhat overdoing the point she was making and her exercises are quite strange and seemily awkward. I personally don't think they would work well without outside help because I don't think all family members would be willing to participate without someone making them in most families. In general, her ideas are timeless, although parts refering to technology and politics at the time it was written are outdated. This book explains how humans interact and where problems exist very thoroughly and I highly recommend it to anyone wishing to improve their relationships, as long as they can read beyond her words and corny phrases.
Rating: 
Summary: a student's dream
Review: thank you! amazon.com made it easy for me to find text books without all those extra school bookstore mark ups!
the new peoplemaking is a great resource for the troubled families Satir writes about, as well as future therapists looking for some informed advice.
Rating:
Summary: Peoplemaking beats peoplebreaking!
Review: Virginia Satir writes in an easy to relate to style about positive ways to support and encourage growth, development and understanding of the people in your family. Through simple games she helps you get in touch with what the existing relationships are among your family members and how they work, or why they may not be working as well as they might. She reaffirms that we own all of the parts of ourselves that make us who we are, and makes it easy and OK to take a look at them. Perhaps there are some behaviors that are puzzling, or get negative results that you see in yourself or other family members. After reading this book, you will see loving and comfortable ways to bring those behaviors into the light of day without criticism or embarrassment. Then, following simple but meaningful guidelines, you and your family will gain understanding and insight into behaviors and relationships that your family uses as its operating system. You will be able to work on changes that you decide to make, and continue to feel trust and support of your family. Perhaps they want to change some things too.
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