Creative Aggression: the Art of Assertive Living

by George Robert Bach, Herb Goldberg

Now you can find an exhilerating new emotional freedom in your everyday life- through Creative Aggression!

Genres: Psychology, Self Help, Nonfiction

337 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

Reviews

[Nik Maack · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is equally more relevant than ever, and dated. The premise: we are a society of conflict-phobic weenies. We need to accept our aggression, use it, channel it, admit it has value.

This part of the book is great. It influenced me at a time I really needed to hear this message, to the point where I still occasionally getting the words CREATIVE AGGRESSION tattooed on my body. (And I currently have no tattoos.) Where the book fails is some of the exercises and language. This is a self help book from the 80s after all.

I've read the book (almost) 3 times now. It's a surprisingly interesting text. I keep trying to remember to embrace conflict. Not to get wishy washy and passive aggressive. If something bothers me, confront it. That's the goal, anyway.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book, one that illustrates how continually burying aggression can lead to far larger problems in the future. Not just a book that shows problems and leaves the reader to solve them as they see fit, it offers several excellent solutions to alleviate underlying tensions and unspoken aggression.
Much of society's aggression is hidden by politeness, and is therefore released (finally) as neuroses and forms of manipulation. The author feels that aggression can be very constructive, but only if the aggressed and aggressor know the issue, and how to build upon it.

[Whoisabishag · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part Of A Must Read Trilogy, in this "Age Of MicroAggression"! SEE: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7...

[Spartacus3 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had read this book in the '90s. I would like to re-read it. Bach has a very interesting perspective on the necessity of "aggression" among and between human beings in order to keep things from boiling over or fizzling out.

[Daniel]

Explains how to control and use aggression constructively to channel emotion, manage anger, develop assertiveness, and promote success.

[Lucy Barnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still incredibly relevant in 2023. Looking past some of the more outdated views and statistics (for example domestic abuse and autism), the central thesis is hard to ignore: we often prioritise the short-term payoffs of being “nice” and “polite” over the long-term satisfaction of honestly and constructively asserting oneself.

I live in Britain where being polite is seen as a National code, and the behaviours detailed in the book are so clear to me, particularly from my experiences with the middle class.

Aggression should not be taboo. It should not be violent either. It should be properly expressed and channeled in order for us all to have healthy relationships with our loved ones, colleagues, and, most importantly, with ourselves.