Rating: 
Summary: Revitalize your life by eliminating perfectionism
Review: One of the best "self-help" books I have ever read. If you are plagued with the shackles of perfectionism and view yourself and others in a negative light because of a lack of perfection, this book will help reveal the absurdity of trying to live your life perfectly and evaluating yourself and others based on impossible standards.
Although the book takes a religious perspective, it will be very helpful even if you are not particularly religious, as the book does not push a particular religion.
Kirkus' view that the book is "ultimately a shallow piece of feel-good pop theology" is way off base. The book has been very helpful to me and has provided me with a much more realistic view of the world, who I am, how I relate to others, and what expectations I should have of myself and others.
Rating: 
Summary: Sound advice and interesting interpretation
Review: Self-help books have a (deserved) reputation of being both trite and loaded with psycho-babble.
This book is an exception. I liked the reinterpretation of Eve's act of eating and sharing the apple. It was an act of liberation for mankind, one of the bravest acts in human history - in fact, it made possible humanity *entering* history by finally giving us a choice of good and evil
It is perhaps the sincerity and simplicity of Kushner subsequent message that moved me: You don't have to be perfect to be loved, nor should you expect people you love to be perfect. You should love the whole person; not disregard their faults ("blind love"), but accept the person with their quirks and iconoclastic behavior.
Whenever I get angry with someone I love, I think about that, and my anger vanishes.
I bought a copy for my sister.
Rating:
Summary: Don't let the title fool you
Review: The book isn't paper prozac like the title may suggest. It is written by a Rabbi who gives the best interpretation of the story of Adam&Eve and the fall of man that I've ever seen.
Rating:
Summary: changed my life
Review: this book is exceptional and everyone should be required to read it. I'm buying copies for all my friends for Christmas.
Rating:
Summary: *We don't have to be perfect*
Review: This is a great book for anyone who has trouble accepting themselves as they are. Kushner, a well-known rabbi, once again gives us a very helpful book. He reminds us that none of us are perfect - only God! I am a little uncomfortable by Kushner's twist on God's creation of Adam and Eve. He agrees with Bible scholars who believe that God created a two-sided human being, one side male and the other side female and that when this androgynous creature could find no suitable mate among the animals, God separated it leaving two suitable mates for each other. I wish people wouldn't try to change our old traditional Bible stories we are so comfortable with. I chuckled at his statement about men's quest for fame. "I have long suspected that the great lengths men go to, "to make a name for themselves," have a building or company named after them, write books or symphonies, merit a paragraph in the encyclopedia, are in fact an effort to compensate for not being able to give birth to a child." I would also recommend his book "When Bad Things Happen to Good People."
Rating:
Summary: Uplifting book - a must read for everyone!
Review: This is one of the most powerful books I have ever read! After reading this book, I now realize that I can not be perfect, no matter how hard I try. That actually makes me better at what I do because there is now no pressure of being perfect. This book also contains lots of good insight on relationshiphs with children, parents, spouses, etc. I recommend this book for EVERYONE! It is easy to read and very uplifting
Rating:
Summary: Tho"t provoking, practical and supportive. Ch 3 is a must !
Review: This would be a good book to have in one's private
library to be read periodically. Chapter 3 on marriage
should be required reading for all married or about-to-be
marrieds. A very helpful, easy-to-read book with wonderful
new concepts (e.g. on women, sin and the Garden of
Eden) and practical suggestions that leave you feeling
good about yourself and able to move forward with
confidence
Rating:
Summary: a new understanding of the garden of eden story
Review: what a fantastic book! i especially enjoyed kushner's explanation of why God allowed man to fall - that we had to experience sin/bad/work in order to appreciate goodness! i plan to share this book with all my friends!
Rating:
Summary: A loving book by a wonderful man
Review: When this book was originally published in 1996, I met Rabbi Kushner at a lecture and book signing event in a synagogue in Omaha, Nebraska. As a Catholic making my first visit to a synagogue, I felt a bit apprehensive about making an inadvertant faux-pas. When the Rabbi started speaking, I felt comfortable right away. His presence felt, not like a high-ranking church official, not like a person of celebrity, but rather like a good neighbor -- someone who might live next door, who I would see mowing the grass and passing out Halloween candy, someone who just happened to be presenting his beliefs on the topic because that is *who he is*, and that the lecture is *what he does*, and that when it was over, he might share a ride home. I had seen, in my religion classes, presentations by Leo Buscaglia. Leo was a man who exuded love, yet almost had a larger-than-life intimidation feeling around him because of it. Rather like a TV evangelist, one never knew when you would be grabbed and "healed"; or, in Leo's case, grabbed and hugged and loved! Not that it's a bad thing, just a bit intimidating. Rabbi Kushner also exudes love, but he has an exactly-life-size feel. Seeing him at a podium, meeting him in person, I got the feeling that despite being well-known, that he is *a real person*, all the time, and that he doesn't have some stage persona, some celebrity, some image to put on in front of people. Rabbi Kushner simply is who he is -- a man. He is a man who loves G_d (I believe that is the proper Jewish way to write it?), a man who loves people, and a man who has made it his life's work to help bring the two closer together. As I brought my book up for Rabbi Kushner to sign, I asked him to sign it "To my Catholic friend", and he actually thanked me for suggesting that. The experience of guilt and forgiveness (as in the topics of this book) are common to all, and despite the stereotypes of the Jewish mother guilting her children, people of all faiths share the quest for forgiveness and holiness. The book signing may have been a promotional thing set up by the publisher, but his presence there was real, and he was making an effort to share something with each person. Having his signature on my book is nice, but the brief conversation is memorable -- and I truly believe that meeting people and sharing a moment was far more meaningful to Rabbi Kushner than the book sales. In the text, which is admittedly harder to read than it is to hear the Rabbi speak on it, I could feel once again the love exuded in the words. His most powerful commentaries, in my opinion, were on forgiveness in marriages; on how to forgive lovingly, while bringing about a change in behavior such that the offense does not repeat. I liked Rabbi Kushner's "When Bad Things..." book, I really like this book, but the man himself is genuinely wonderful.
Rating:
Summary: A loving book by a wonderful man
Review: When this book was originally published in 1996, I met Rabbi Kushner at a lecture and book signing event in a synagogue in Omaha, Nebraska. As a Catholic making my first visit to a synagogue, I felt a bit apprehensive about making an inadvertant faux-pas. When the Rabbi started speaking, I felt comfortable right away. His presence felt, not like a high-ranking church official, not like a person of celebrity, but rather like a good neighbor -- someone who might live next door, who I would see mowing the grass and passing out Halloween candy, someone who just happened to be presenting his beliefs on the topic because that is *who he is*, and that the lecture is *what he does*, and that when it was over, he might share a ride home. I had seen, in my religion classes, presentations by Leo Buscaglia. Leo was a man who exuded love, yet almost had a larger-than-life intimidation feeling around him because of it. Rather like a TV evangelist, one never knew when you would be grabbed and "healed"; or, in Leo's case, grabbed and hugged and loved! Not that it's a bad thing, just a bit intimidating. Rabbi Kushner also exudes love, but he has an exactly-life-size feel. Seeing him at a podium, meeting him in person, I got the feeling that despite being well-known, that he is *a real person*, all the time, and that he doesn't have some stage persona, some celebrity, some image to put on in front of people. Rabbi Kushner simply is who he is -- a man. He is a man who loves G_d (I believe that is the proper Jewish way to write it?), a man who loves people, and a man who has made it his life's work to help bring the two closer together. As I brought my book up for Rabbi Kushner to sign, I asked him to sign it "To my Catholic friend", and he actually thanked me for suggesting that. The experience of guilt and forgiveness (as in the topics of this book) are common to all, and despite the stereotypes of the Jewish mother guilting her children, people of all faiths share the quest for forgiveness and holiness. The book signing may have been a promotional thing set up by the publisher, but his presence there was real, and he was making an effort to share something with each person. Having his signature on my book is nice, but the brief conversation is memorable -- and I truly believe that meeting people and sharing a moment was far more meaningful to Rabbi Kushner than the book sales. In the text, which is admittedly harder to read than it is to hear the Rabbi speak on it, I could feel once again the love exuded in the words. His most powerful commentaries, in my opinion, were on forgiveness in marriages; on how to forgive lovingly, while bringing about a change in behavior such that the offense does not repeat. I liked Rabbi Kushner's "When Bad Things..." book, I really like this book, but the man himself is genuinely wonderful.
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