Self-help books, as the genre goes, can be rather boring affairs. There are exercises to do, writing, drawing, and what not. Some are not so boring and even feel a bit silly. Then there are those that simply try to approach the work more like a simple how-to manual. ANGER and ANXIETY: Be in charge of your emotions and control phobias has that feel for it.

Dr. Robert Rich has published numerous books, both fiction and non-fiction. This book is a non-fiction self-help book. In describing his book, Dr. Rich says:

“This book has been deliberately written in everyday language. I made every effort to avoid sounding scientific or formal. I kept references to a minimum.”

So, for those of us used to formal language and scientific phrasing, you will not find that here. ANGER and ANXIETY: Be in charge of your emotions and control phobias is meant to be read as a tool for getting control of anger and anxiety. It includes simple methods that, according to his biography included at the end of the book, have helped ninety percent of his patients. He has included an extensive bibliography that this work is based on.

My problems with this book are not in the tools he suggests or how effective these methods would, or would not, be. That is something that each individual reader can decide for themselves. My problems are more with the readability. In an attempt to keep things chatty and open between the author and reader, he drifts in and out of stories as examples of how the particular method would work. I had to, many times, stop, and go back, and reread, having gotten lost between his story and trying to remember what example he was showing. There was no clear transition between non-fiction self-help and fictional examples. I found this very sloppy, and considering his extensive writing credits, quite a surprise. I am sure it would have been a simple matter to change to italics, or indent, or even insert a sub-title.

To show an example of how Adrenaline can be of benefit, he jumps right into a fragment of a story he has written. It would be much more clear if, instead of jumping right into the crisis of the hunt, he wrote us a clue to what was coming. He could simply have put the title “The Bear Hunt” to help his readers be aware a change in writing. This would have given me plenty of clues to know that I needed to switch gears. Here is an example:

Emergency

They snatched at spears. Hurd appeared from among the trees, sprinting for his life. The bear was on all fours, ten steps behind him and rapidly gaining. With great discipline, Hurd held his line until the beast was within range of their spears, and almost upon him; then he suddenly jerked to his right.

The above is the first example that takes place. If he could have taken the time to clarify when he was using an example and when it was finished, it would have improved the writing an hundredfold.

There are some other areas that I am uncomfortable with, but mostly put that down as personal preference. I like chatty conversational style of writing for self-help books, but find it a bit awkward when he jumps from third person to first person and back again.

I was disappointed in how this book was presented but not at all on the tools that are there. The tools in ANGER and ANXIETY: Be in charge of your emotions and control phobias seem to be good and simple for anyone wanting to try his methods. Just be willing to search for the tools amid the mess and you will be fine.

Reviewed By Nancy Louise
© April 2006