Interviewing anyone about their
parents is never a good idea, in my opinion. We could spend hours ranting and
raving about our teen years, as well as our twenties and (in some cases),
thirties. The guilt, the way we were treated, etc… Why anyone would write a
book based on the aforementioned is beyond me. 

This book wasn’t all that bad, but
after reading interviews with a few people who basically did nothing but comlain
about their upbringings, I felt like giving more than a few of them a kick in
the ass.  I mean, how long can we go on blaming our parents for things? 

While the motive for this book is
reasonable (let go of the anger, move away from the conflicts, etc…), the
exercises seemed a little long winded and at times silly.  At times, I got the
feeling that this book was written for young children, not adults. I mean, am I
really going to repeat a mantra every time I get pissed off at my parent’s?  I
don’t think so.  I’m 38.  If they annoy me intensely, I get up and go.  Case
closed, no one to blame.  No resentment.  No conflict.   Am I really going to
use a tape recorder to record how my parents sound when they speak to me so
that I can later replay it and dissect it?  I think not.

I’m not really sure what age group
this book is targeted toward, but based upon the interviews, it seems to be
toward the twenty and thirty-somethings, an age group, in my opinion, that is
old enough to realize that we can’t blame our parents for everything.

 © 2006 Dana Vigilante

Dana
Vigilante is a hospice educator as well as an advocate for proper end-of-life
care and a certified bereavement group facilitator. Currently writing a book
based on interviews with terminally ill hospice patients, she divides her time
between New Jersey and San Francisco.

Categories: Relationships, SelfHelp