The Sibling Society: An Impassioned Call for the Rediscovery of Adulthood

In The Sibling Society, Bly turns to stories as unexpected as Jack and the Beanstalk and the Hindu tale of Ganesha to illustrate and illuminate the troubled soul of our nation itself. What he shows us is a culture where adults remain children, and where children have no desire to become adults - a nation of squabbling siblings. Through his use of poetry and myth, Bly takes us beyond the sociological statistics and tired psychobabble to see our dilemma afresh. In this sibling culture that he describes, we tolerate no one above us and have no concern for anyone below us. Like sullen teenagers we live in our peer group, glancing side to side, rather than upward, for direction. We have brought down all forms of hierarchy because hierarchy is based on power, often abused. Yet with that leveling we have also destroyed any willingness to look up or down. Without that "vertical gaze," as Bly calls it, we have no longing for the good, no deep understanding of evil. We shy away from great triumphs and deep sorrow. We have no elders and no children; no past and no future. What we are left with is spiritual flatness. The talk show replaces family. Instead of art we have the Internet. In the place of community we have the mall. . By drawing upon such magnificent spirits as Pablo Neruda, Rumi, Emily Dickinson, and Ortega y Gassett, Bly manages to show us the beautiful possibilities of human existence, even as he shows us the harshest truths. Still, his probing is deeper and more unsettling than the usual cultural criticism. He finds that our economy's stimulation of adolescent envy and greed has changed us fundamentally. The Superego that once demanded high standards in our work and in our ethics no longer demands that we be good but merely "famous," bathed in the warm glow of superficial attention. Driven by this insatiable need, and with no guidance toward the discipline required for genuine accomplishment, our young people are defeated before they begin.

the Author Of iron John Expands His Mythic Perspective To Examine American Culture At Large, And Finds Us To Be A Nation Of Squabbling Children.

walter Goodman

mr. Bly Is An Accomplished Storyteller, And His Affection For The Tales Of Many Peoples Over Many Centuries Can Be Catching. But When It Comes To The Contemporary Condition, His Propheteering Arias Seem As Out Of Control As The Nafs....no, Don't Throw His Book Out The Window. At Least Read The Fairy Tales. ''the Sibling Society'' Is By Turns Engaging And Exasperating, Suggestive And Tendentious, A Mix Of Imagination, Scholarship And Remarkable Silliness. Although He Announces, In His Take-no-prisoners Way, ''television Is The Thalidomide Of The 1990's,'' I Wouldn't Be Surprised If Mr. Bly Showed Up On Pbs Again Soon. -- New York Times

At the close of the twentieth century, adults have regressed toward adolescence while adolescents refuse to become adults. Respect for elders has given way to the furious competition of peers or siblings who strive not to be good or great but to be famous. Community has been supplanted by TV and the Internet. Where have all the grown-ups gone? Where have all the grownups gone? In answering that question with the same freewheeling erudition and intuitive brilliance that made Iron John a national bestseller, poet, storyteller and translator Robert Bly tells us that we live in a "sibling society, " in which adults have regressed into adolescence and adolescents refuse to grow up. The author describes the culture of the US as one where adults remain children, and where children have no desire to become adults - a nation of squabbling siblings. He finds that adolescent envy and greed has changed America fundamentally. Examines contemporary problems of American culture and challenges readers to accept the responsibilities of maturity