Changing the Bully Who Rules the World: Reading and Thinking About Ethics

by Carol Bly

Bosses, partners, governments, corporations - all can act as bullies in our lives, intimidating us to their will. But changing their behavior may be in our power. In this provocative, visionary book, Carol Bly examines some of this century's most far-ranging concepts about how to nurture ethical human beings and presents them through the lens of excellent contemporary literature. Changing the Bully Who Rules the World is a book of hopeful, practical ideas that can hasten ethical change both in our thinking and in our behavior. Through an anthology of exceptional literature, Bly's book asks the reader to contemplate anew the voices she presents - including works by Charles Baxter, Donald Hall, Jim Harrison, Mark Helprin, Denise Levertov, Thomas McGrath, Joyce Carol Oates, Mary Oliver, Katha Pollitt, Alice Walker, Tobias Wolff, and many others - and to consider them in terms of the ideas of important thinkers in human behavior and our own experiences.

Genres: Essays, Philosophy

535 pages, Paperback

First published September 5, 1996

Reviews

[Braden Canfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book so much I wrote Carol Bly and thanked her for it. Ended up having a long email conversation with her about a year before her death. An experience I will cherish.

[David White · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've used this beauty for class many times over the years, always to good effect.

[Ronald Wise · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book bubbled to the top of my reading list due to its inclusion of several pieces by authors I’ve enjoyed previously. I approached as an anthology of short fiction, but reading Carol Bly’s commentary at the end of the first chapter left me confused as to the book’s purpose. (I would recommend a careful reading of the introduction.) As I proceeded, it became obvious that Bly’s commentaries at the end of each chapter were a continuing essay on bullying and possible solutions, with the literary samples (essays, short stories, poems, and a political cartoon) used to provide examples of people or organizations using their power to hurt or exploit those less powerful, and how they might be dealt with.

Presented as such, the 24 literary pieces selected enhanced my appreciation of her commentary, as her discussion enhanced my appreciation of them. Many of the stories had an emotional impact without me understanding why, until I read her commentary and better understood my reactions to characters, situations, and outcomes. I believe that some of these realizations will generalize to enhance my future readings of fiction.

The impact of this book was definitely potentiated by my continual comparison of its descriptions of bully behaviors and effects to what has been happening in the United States since 2016, where the most blatant bully politician in recent history managed to take over a major political party and occupy the White House for four years using playground bullying tactics.

[Leonard · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book combines poetry and literature from various writers and then evaluates the piece in the context of contemporary ethics. It's an interesting idea and the author has a lot to offer but at places the reading got a little tedious. I feel the author would have a stronger and more effective work if this was condensed to 350 or 400 pages but unfortunately it's over 500 pages. I never finished it, but feel good about the book and the author's efforts and may check it out from the library again and do more reading in it.

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

REally one of the most useful books on ethics.