Review: What's He Really Thinking? How to be a Relational Genius with the Man in Your Life

http://athistable.blogspot.com/2009/08/review-whats-he-really-thinking-how-to.html

I can’t help but wonder what a man would think of Paula Rinehart’s What’s He Really Thinking? How to be a Relational Genius with the Man in Your Life. After all, a woman did write the book. What would the book be like if a man had written it? And if a man had written it, would women really read it?

Considering Rinehart’s counseling experience and extensive research for her book, I trust that she writes truthfully. And she does provide plenty of insight into the male psyche. Whether men would agree with her verdicts, I do not know, but I do know that Rinehart fills What’s He Really Thinking with what men are really thinking. Even better, she discusses the roles of both males and females as found in the Bible. Although she uses very few Biblical examples or Biblical verses for support, everything she says has a firm Biblical foundation. Rinehart’s ultimate point focuses on the fact that God made man and woman to fulfill different roles and have different types of emotions and abilities. Thus, to woman, man seems like a creature from another planet, but man and woman are actually meant as counterparts that can fit together under God’s supervision.

Rinhart also covers the male urge to “do,” why sexual identity is so important to men, the male’s need to feel adequate and needed, the female’s need to understand the background of the men in her life and how their backgrounds affect who they are, how men handle change, why men do not show emotion as much or pick up on female emotions, and how women fit into male lives.

I read Rinehart’s with my father in mind, since I have yet to date or marry a man. Rinehart makes it clear that her book is applicable to all kinds of relationships with men, but she does refer to “sex” quite often, something that may make parts of her book an awkward read for singles. We all know there’s no way avoiding the topic. My dad, himself, made a joke about how a woman took an entire book to explain a topic that men could explain in one word.

Overall, Rinehart succeeds in giving her readers just enough information to help them in their relationships with men. She could have used more facts, more research, more details (and there were certain parts she should have expanded on), but Rinehart chose to appeal to the common person with stories and examples. She hits core issues that most women deal with, and she addresses the female role and how it fits in with the male role. What’s He Really Thinking provides a short, easy read for any woman wanting an inside look at the male psyche... or for any man curious enough about the female perspective on men.