I recently read this book outloud to my husband on a 22 hour car ride.
Most of the information was nothing new, and some of the writing is tedious and redundant, but I think what makes it work is that the author is actually using his technique of repetion and consistency on the reader to reinforce his point: it's quite clever actually!
It was really quite enlightening in certain areas, to realize that our struggles as parents are in many ways our own fault. Not that he tells you you are a horrible parent, but he helps you come to the conclusion yourself that duh, how can I expect my kids to obey the first time if I always brush them off with 'not now' or 'just a minute' etc. And how can I expect them to not yell at each other when I yell at them. Again, all quite obvious, but for us, this book made it all really sink in. We felt motivated to change; inspired to adjust our methods in what really only amounted to small ways.
More proof of its superiority on the parenting book circuit is that we actually read the whole thing cover to cover! I have a vast collection of parenting books and NEVER have I finished one. Usually the methods are either difficult to implement, not right for our family, or just not clear enough. But with this, we were able to implement changes immediately, and saw immediate results. It was so easy, especially for my logical husband, to see that good discipline is formulaic.
Whats really impressive, is that if your are humble enough to change your parenting skills, you are showing your children that you are trying to improve so they should too. You model self-discipline so that they learn self-discipline. You show that you start with small goals and work for the positive results. The author has a whole section on chore/behavior charts and/or contracts which is to help everyone SEE the improvement. We even gave ourselves as parents goals and consequences. It really has given us a whole new perspective on every aspect of home life.
Ok, so I really can't say enough how amazing this book has been for our family. Maybe it was just that we actually read it together so we were both on the same page for once, or maybe this is all completely obvious stuff that everybody else has already figured out, but whatever it is, it has turned our family around.