The Cow in the Parking Lot: A Zen Approach to Overcoming Anger

I recently admitted to myself that I have an anger problem and not liking how this made me feel I vowed to change. This audiobook gave me several insights into the source of my anger and how to deal with it properly. I have listened to this book a couple times now and find it very useful to go back to when I find myself getting angry. It's a great listen and I highly recommend it to anyone who finds themselves struggling with anger.

There is a lot of anger out there - some of it justifiable but this book actually nails the problem by boiling it down to unmet needs. Common sense so it seems but after listening to it and thinking about `unmet needs` amazing things happen - what is really bothering you becomes obvious. And it isn`t that complicated but not obvious when you try to figure it out yourself. At least it wasn`t obvious for me. Definitely a great audible selection and plan to listen to it a couple of times. The anger Scheff discusses gave me a perspective on even the anger we see in society and politics at large. The clearer the unmet needs become, the more obvious the resolution so anger fades. That the author had his own anger issues makes his points even more convincing. A great book!

My son and wife both questioned why I was reading this book. I'm easy going and not many things make me angry to the point where I consider it a problem.
I wanted a few exercises to deal with the few things that push my buttons and this book helped me. The reader became one of those things. He was so bad at dealing with the quotations I felt compelled to warn people. He affects accents and tones of voice that seem to have been learned by listening to poorly dubbed martial arts movies. I kept hoping to hear the word "grahshoppah".

Different reader.

Funnily enough, I got angry on the reader.
He puts an accent wherever he can and it really started to annoy me up to the point that I didn't feel like continuing to listen to this book, sorry to say so.
It might be personal. Also this is my second experience with an audio book. The first one was read by the author itself (Marianne Williamson) who is a great speaker. That book felt like being at Marianne's lecture while the book read by Bill was such a contrast to this, unfortunately a negative one...

Good content, but the points are made so repetitively the book gets boring. The narrator most annoyingly put on strange voices and accents when quoting Buddhist teachers, and often mispronounces their names.

The message of the book is excellent and useful and entirely realistic. But I'd like to make a note about the narration. He sounds fine. He reads slowly but it is easy to get used to his pace. He also does adopt different accents if he is playing a character in one of the many parables. However, most readers do this and his voices are no worse than anyone else's. Please don't let the negative reviews about the narration sway you from trying this book. The content has unexpectedly changed my life for the better.

I thought the book had great content, flow, pace - everything you could ask for. If, like me, you occasionally lose your cool and live to regret it, this should be a good book for you.

As for the narration, here's a trick I learned: If you have a player that allows it (iphone, newer ipods do) speed the narration up to 1.5. The book's still fine to understand, and the narrator-itis disappears completely. Try it!

(If you can't, you may wanna think twice, because that poor, sweet guy did try a little too hard and it is pretty annoying.)

Talking about being angry? Well this book will make you stop and think: Being Angry - is it worth it? nice book, a good approach overcoming anger and the narrator's soothing voice is another plus-plus. Easy five stars!

If you do not know much about, or a little about Budhism, then this is a good read/listen. If you have anger issues, then this also is a good choice. I was interested in Budhism and Anger Management this is why I purchased this audio book. I found the Voice of the Narration Artist kept me interested and the material inside not to much to swallow. It definately will keep me on the persuit of more titles that involve Budhist teachings. This audio book should not be taken in place of therapy, as the author noted several times in the book. Just as a starting point on a long journey of self discovery and teachings of the Budah.

It is truly excellent. Helped me 1) calm down, 2) laugh more at situations, and 3) roll with the flow. Worth the price.