Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
The premise of this follow-up to Leadership and Self-Deception is simple: people whose hearts are at peace do not wage war, whether they're heads of state or members of a family. In this semi-fictional narrative ("inspired by actual events") illustrating the principles of achieving peace, the setting is a two-day parent workshop at an Arizona-based wilderness camp for out-of-control teenagers, but the storyline is a mere setting for an instruction manual. Workshop facilitators Yusuf al-Falah, a Palestinian Arab whose father was killed by Israelis in 1948, and Avi Rozen, an Israeli Jew whose father died in the Yom Kippur War, use examples from their domestic lives and the history of their region to illustrate situations in which the normal and necessary routines of daily life can become fodder for conflict. Readers observe this through the eyes of one participant, a father whose business is in nearly as much trouble as his teenage son. The usefulness of the information conveyed here on how conflicts take root, spread and can be resolved more than compensates for the pedestrian writing. $150,000 ad/promo. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
The Arbinger Institute's best-selling Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting Out of the Box (2000) established the solid work of this unique team of more than 300 facilitators, coaches, and staff who annually provide public seminars, personal development programs, individual coaching sessions, and professional training to an international audience of thousands. The institute's latest title follows the stories of families with troubled children participating in intense counseling sessions facilitated by an Arab and a Jew whose fathers were killed by each other's ethnic group. These once-bitter facilitators found their way to peace amid war, thus exemplifying the institute's fundamental principle that the choice between peace and war exists within each person. However, while readers may be intrigued by the selected interpersonal stories, the application of this approach-based on the work of Heidegger contemporary Martin Buber-would likely be more successful if led by trained facilitators. Because this title focuses on a root-cause solution to interpersonal and international conflict, it will effortlessly surpass the glut of conflict-management titles now filling shelves. Highly recommended for all libraries.-Dale Farris, Groves, TX (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
