The Way of the Superior Man [Paperback] [Jan 01, 2017] David Deida Paperback – January 1, 2017

I’m definitely ordering for my brothers, this book is filled with such motivation speech of how to overcome you’re daily life challenges.

Before I go too much into this review below, I'd like to clarify a few things about myself. I'm a married man, 24 years old, with a good career. I generally consider myself a happy guy, although, I'm always looking for ways to improve myself and my marriage (who isn't?).I'm also a computer programmer (professionally, and for fun), and wouldn't consider myself an artistic, abstract, or religious type of person. Quite the opposite, actually. If anything, I'm a very logical, scientific, and straightforward person.With all that said, this was an *excellent book*. This was the first relationship book I've ever read, and ended up buying it because a friend referred it to me as a must-read book that will give you superpowers in your relationship. I was very skeptical, but figured I'd give it a read anyhow.Now, onto the review!This book discusses a series of rules and guidelines that masculine people should follow. While this book is not written exclusively for men (straight, gay, or otherwise)--it is written specifically for masculine people. If you're a feminine person, this book is not for you. This book is specifically written as a guide for masculine people to follow, which explains a lot about masculinity, feminism, and how following certain guidelines will help you live your life to a fuller extent, and subsequently, increase the quality of your personal relationships.Some of the topics covered in the book are:- What are traits of masculine and feminine people?- Which category do you fall into? (masculine, feminine, neutral)- Which sort of partner will you get along with best? (If you're a masculine man, you'll likely get along well with a feminine girl.)- Which things must you prioritize in your life to feel fully content? (hint: it's not your relationship, although your relationship is important)- How can you avoid and resolve relationship issues with your partner?- Ways in which you can improve the quality of your relationship.- How to 'let go' of societal stereotypes about the genders, and live the way your genetics tell you.More than anything, this is a book about living a full, purposeful, and happy life with your partner. This book examines the roles that men and women play in relationships, and really analyzes the root causes of what drives both sexes. In then offers advice to maximize your enjoyment and success along the way.The book is broken up into a series of short chapters, each no more than a page or two in length. Each chapter discusses a guideline, and explains what the guideline means, how it works, and how to put it into practice.Overall, I'd say this was a great book. While it did seem very 'preachy' at some points, the content of the book was excellent, and has really helped me understand some of my own faults and idiosyncrasies, and has given me great advice to follow through on. Furthermore, this book has really helped me to 'understand' my wife better. It gave me useful insight to see through the root of problems, arguments, and other things--and has actually helped me out quite a bit in a very short amount of time.Even if you're not interested in relationship books at all (like me), this book is definitely worth a read as it is more of a manual to understanding yourself and your relationships, and will serve you well.

I will not be able to do the book justice in a short review and it has been over a month since I read it, but I'll give the highlights that stand out in my memory. Deida is looking at male female relationships from an archetypal perspective and is asking "The Superior Man" to respond to his woman as if he is the Male archetype as exemplified by Shiva- a tall order for the average shmoe. He says that in a polarized male/female relationship, the female archetype will constantly challenge the male to demonstrate his masculine power. He can do this primarily by moving toward the female challenge with love, rather than backing off with defensiveness. I think this is important, but very difficult to do when the male is operating from his (vulnerable) ego. The examples he gives of the man moving towards the female with love when challenged and tested ring true as a winning strategy. Nonetheless it requires what seems to me to be almost superhuman consciousness at all times to pull off, hence some of the negative reactions to what he is saying.The first few chapters of the book about a man's purpose were less interesting to me, but tie in to his later thesis about how a man should relate to the female, or his woman in particular.This is certainly the deepest treatment of how men should relate to women that I have read. It is controversial because it goes against what most of us have been taught in the past few decades of the feminist period, which seems to have undermined the power and self concept of men who have conformed to this new politically correct model of male female relations.I definitely recommend this book as a mind expanding exercise in reclaiming a man's power. Repeated readings would be needed to firmly integrate the teachings.

Great Read

Good read

This is an idealistic read. Period. It would be a challenge for any real relationship to meet the goals that Deida sets out but it's good he wrote them anyway so we can all challenge ourselves to aspire to them.It's not about men and women but it can be applied to any relationship when there is a polarity of masculine and feminine. I happen to be a woman who wants a "superior man" so I'd recommend any women who want one of those to read it anyway even though the author directs everything he's saying to men. The chapters are short but have bite to them, so you might have to take a break to really ponder some of Deida's opinions as you go.Some women may criticize this book as being misogynistic because it does place the man in a superior light. However, the book doesn't put down women in any sort of way. Deida only puts men in a superior light by saying that if a woman is upset, he has the power to relieve her stress by giving her love and supporting her, rather than closing off emotionally. He isn't really talking about overpowering her and dominating her like she's nothing, he's talking about ravishing her and making sure she feels wanted and needed when she's unhappy.Deida is talking about masculine power from a different perspective than we're used to hearing. In fact, he doesn't even really limit masculine power to males. He clearly states that a healthy relationship has polarities, so a woman could be masculine and the man could be feminine, as long as both roles and powers are understood. He also praises feminine power, basically saying it's an ocean of love and belonging that is worth worshipping.So, overall, this is a great read. He does talk about sex a lot but there's a deeper meaning to what he's saying. It's really about how to open up so that you can properly cherish the natural polarities in a relationship. Rather than closing of yourself emotionally whenever a fight happens.