Beyond Order

12 More Rules for Life

By: Jordan B. Peterson

Narrated by: Jordan B. Peterson

Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

The companion volume to 12 Rules for Life offers further guidance on the perilous path of modern life.

In 12 Rules for Life, clinical psychologist and celebrated professor at Harvard and the University of Toronto Dr. Jordan B. Peterson helped millions impose order on the chaos of their lives. Now, in this bold sequel, Peterson delivers 12 more lifesaving principles for resisting the exhausting toll that our desire to order the world inevitably takes.

In a time when the human will increasingly imposes itself over every sphere of life - from our social structures to our emotional states - Peterson warns that too much security is dangerous. What’s more, he offers strategies for overcoming the cultural, scientific, and psychological forces causing us to tend toward tyranny, and teaches us how to rely instead on our instinct to find meaning and purpose, even - and especially - when we find ourselves powerless.

While chaos, in excess, threatens us with instability and anxiety, unchecked order can petrify us into submission. Beyond Order provides a call to balance these two fundamental principles of reality itself and guides us along the straight and narrow path that divides them.

©2021 Jordan B. Peterson (P)2021 Penguin Audio

How security and living an easy life can ruin us.

Great book where Peterson hopes to encourage the reader to draw strength from the chaotic world.

Peterson delivers, yet again

As always, Jordan balances experience, both personal and professional, with clinical precision when doling out his wisdom. I've always been impressed with his ability to be intellectual, yet relatable.

Beyond Order is beyond expectations!

Dr. Peterson has written another awesome literary treasure...ok, a bit dramatic, but I think it has some truth. This book humbled me. It showed me that there is more to be seen and known about the world and how to navigate it and the people around it. It helps bring another piece of the puzzle. I hope it helps bring enlightenment and knowledge and joy and humor as it did for me. Happy reading...or listening...or both as the case was with me.

Duberli Ruvalcaba

Throughout the span of life, you will suffer, you will confront situations that make you uncomfortable, and you will inevitably see the potential of evil the world is capable of presenting to an individual. Dr. Jordan B. Peterson conveys this message in a brilliant manner that will allow you to become/ be more conscious about the cause of your thoughts, decisions, and actions. This book will give a deeper understanding and meaning to both of the most powerful forces- GOOD and EVIL,chose your force wisely... I will recommend this book to all of my loved ones. Thank you Dr. Peterson, it has been a pleasure to listen to your works. -Duberli R.
Austin, Tx

Good Stuff

it gets a little repetitive and wordy, but the signal to noise ratio is still far higher than most books of this sort today. It's a solid companion to the first and worth getting through. I particularly enjoyed the part about the importance of art and beauty.

Another essential read!

This sequel was every bit as good as his first 12 rules. Dr. Peterson has a way of delving deep into everyday life issues, breaking them down so we can make sense of them, then giving us an ideal to strive for in those situations. This is another outstanding set of rules that I’ve already been able to apply to my life for the better.

He never ceases to fill my life with hope and wisdom

Jordan Peterson is an intellectual juggernaut. In all his books he compiles the best of philosophical and religious literature, scientific research, and his own experiences as a clinical psychologist into eloquent wisdom. Reading his books have truly changed my life for the better when I didn’t think I needed it.
I would recommend this book to anyone, but especially to those who wanted to read Maps of Meaning but thought it was too daunting. He takes some of the best of that book and makes them more concise and applicable.
If you listened to many of his 12 Rules lectures, much of this material will be review. I think he was lecturing about these topics at the same time he was writing about them. Either way, I think this book is valuable because you get his thoughts in their fully articulated form.

This is a book I'll listen to again

Very much enjoyed this book and the author read this in a way that kept me engaged.

Difficult to read but necessary to improve

Ying and Yang, well Beyond order and 12 rules for life, describe how to be organize, then disrupt then to be organized again, to disrupt again :D

Not an easy read, well audio read, but hell of a lot worth it, man! Grow up man, clean your room!

Great read! Love JP,

Peterson fans will not be disappointed

I want to start this review by saying that if you’ve never read any of Jordan Peterson’s work, then you may want to proceed cautiously with this one. That’s not to say it’s bad by any means; as you can tell by my high rating of it, that’s clearly not the case. It’s just to say that Peterson’s writing style is very distinct and not necessarily for everyone.

To elaborate on that a bit more, I would classify the writing style as a combination of scholarly, dense, profound, and allusional. As was the case in “12 Rules for Life,” here, Peterson starts each chapter with a broad “life rule,” meanders off onto a somewhat long-winded but very well-backed dialogue about said rule (and why we should implement it), then, finally, finishes by stating said rule again.

Another reason why I think Peterson’s style can be difficult to digest is that it’s really not all that similar to that of the more “traditional” self-help best-sellers. This one, just like his other books, is like a thesis meets poetry meets mythology meets personal development work. At times, it’s hard to sift through, but by golly, is there profoundness in the weeds.

Now, onto my personal experience and review of this one. As you can probably tell, it took me a very long time to grow accustomed to Peterson’s writing style. Personally, I find his podcasts and Youtube videos to be more approachable and interesting. But, again, as evidenced by the rating I’ve given this one, that doesn’t mean it isn’t approachable or interesting at all. It’s very interesting indeed — just less approachable than some of his other mediums.

As for the content itself, there’s so much gold to discover here. Sure, it’s at times hidden amongst the long paragraphs, but it’s still there, nonetheless. Though I took a ton of notes while reading this one, and it would be hard to repeat all of those notes here, I think my favorite parts were the discussions on the inevitable difficulties of life, the meaning found in personal responsibility and sacrifice, and how we can wrangle chaos into order and create beauty in the world.

I really can’t put my finger on why I liked this one better than “12 Rules.” Again, maybe it’s because I’ve gotten more accustomed to Peterson’s writing over the last three years. Or, maybe it’s because I felt this one had more personal application for me.

Whatever the case, I definitely enjoyed my time with it. And while it can certainly be difficult to parse through all the content here, the profound moments and insights are so great that I can’t help but give this one the highest marks possible. Note: I speak vaguely here only because the book is so long that it’s hard to really focus on its specific contents — it would take a very long time to discuss them in a way that does the book justice.

So, all in all: this was a very enjoyable read for me. Peterson’s personal style and philosophy are on full display here, and, dare I say, he’s cultivated it almost perfectly in the years since his last release. His ability to willingly take the inevitable darkness of life and spin it into a motivating force is something that I admire so strongly. And, again, while it’s not necessarily for everyone, I’m fairly confident that fans of his will absolutely adore it.

-Brian Sachetta
Author of “Get Out of Your Head”