Kirkus Reviews QR Code
THE WARRIOR WITHIN by Robert Moore

THE WARRIOR WITHIN

Accessing the Knight in the Male Psyche

by Robert Moore & Douglas Gillette

Pub Date: Sept. 18th, 1992
ISBN: 0-688-09592-5
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins

Urging men to ``Be Glorious!'' in harnessing the potential of the ``Warrior within,'' this follows fast on the heels of the authors' The King Within (p. 165) and further establishes their place in men's-movement literature. As in their previous book (from which several short chapters are reprinted here for new readers), Moore and Gillette draw on a wide variety of sources—Captain Kirk to Carlos Castaneda—to explore the central issue of men's aggressive impulses: ``The problem today is how to turn what was once a species-enhancing instinct into a beneficial rather than an endangering dynamic.'' Along the way, they offer many interesting observations—e.g., why one-on-one combat seems a more noble expression than large-scale or nuclear war—and, more than in the first volume, they use concrete examples to illustrate their points. (For example, Moore and Gillette suggest that every man has had some access to the ecstasy of the Warrior in packing for a critical business trip, making an important speech, proposing marriage or divorce.) They again look at the imperfect expressions of these impulses (in sadists and masochists), and they emphasize why the true Warrior must possess some larger vision than his own (or his company's) well-being. Many may find these explanations for classes of behavior somewhat limited, though, even if they subscribe to the values and behaviors promoted by the authors. Initiates will welcome this follow-up work despite the often sluggish prose, and even newcomers will be able to follow the score. (Fifty b&w photos and eight pages of color photos—not seen.)