He-Motions

July 5, 2004
Dallas-based preacher Jakes's breakout book, Woman, Thou Art Loosed
, established his unique brand of self-help literature saturated with biblical stories. In this new book, bound for bestsellerdoom, he turns his attention to "a man's relationships," using the many-sided King David as his starting point. Jakes is by no means the first writer to troll David's story for insights into masculinity, but he brings an inimitable combination of street smarts and worldly panache to the task. He also draws on the stories of countless men who have come to him for advice on coping with success and failure, sex and love, and relating to their fathers and sons. His recollections of his own struggles, especially a moving section about the death of his father when Jakes was 16, balance his religious, ambitious prose with an uncommon transparency. The quality of the writing falters in the second half, as Jakes expounds rather conventionally on the arenas of power, money and sex—the "PMS" he says can sabotage a marriage. Indeed, unmarried men may find this book off-putting, so strong is Jakes's assumption that family is the center of masculine identity. But his distinctly unmacho vision of fatherhood, friendship and lifelong marital romance will be appreciated by men who embrace his call to be "men in motion, trying to move toward what God wants us to be."

March 1, 2004
Bishop Jakes does for men what he did for women in The Lady, Her Lover, and Her Lord, freeing them up for greater emotional openness through God.

Copyright 2004 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2004
Jakes follows " Woman, Thou Art Loosed!" (1994) with a book aimed at aiding men reclaiming their lives from the stereotypes about masculinity, which dictate that men show no emotions. Through intimate personal stories of his own journey to develop as a pastor, husband, and father, Jakes encourages men to delve into the emotional and spiritual aspects of themselves. He uses Bible stories to illustrate how men struggle in their spiritual development, and he explores how our culture discourages men from revealing their inner emotions; how emotionally distant fathers pass along the inclination to their sons; and the cost to men who are unable to develop closer relationships with friends, women, and children. Jakes offers practical advice on how men can improve communication with those who are important in their lives. The book is divided into sections that advise taking inventory and making improvements in relationship with self, time (stages of life), father, other men, women, children, and God. Each section includes questions as exercises for men and women to promote greater self-awareness.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)