The Possible Human by Jean Houston

The Possible Human Reviews

• 
  Jennifer Morley

  I went through this book chapter by chapter with a small group. We met at my house, and members switched leadership for each chapter. I learned a lot about myself as we did the exercises together, sometimes imagining ourselves visiting rooms of the senses in our brain, sometimes listening intently to a musical composition, and sometimes swimming like fishes together :~) At the end of the book, I realized that all five (or six?) senses were refined and heightened, and I had a better understanding of the way my body and mind relate to form the package of cells I call "me." This book has some corny passages, but Houston's sense of humor is endearing and the insights make the groans well worthwhile.
• 
  Helena

  I'm not much for best sellers of the new age genre, but the title and reviews for this book prompted me to purchase it. Unnecessarily wordy, it regurgitates Houston's basic concepts argumentum ad infinitum. I like her basic concept and supporting theory with studies, references and other details, yet dislike reading and rereading the same ideas rehashed several different ways and employing different analogies. I got it the first time! Maybe publishers think readers are incapable of grasping content without multiple explanations, or there's a minimum page count. If the text could be distilled to the essence of the present content, total page count would be reduced by 65%.
  
  For those of us who were adult in the 80's, this book is outdated and reads as pretentious. Nothing is so stale as yesterday's pop psychology & spirituality. Radical at the time, this seminal work has now been copied, repackaged, and marketed for almost 3 decades by legions of self appointed gurus in the new age business.
  
  The inclusion of a stereotypical Yiddish accent is a bit twee. Why is this done? No Asian, African American, Celtic, Slavic or Native American persons share pithy wisdom in thickly accented, folksy quotes that read like comments from early 1980's Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder comedies. If other linguistic groups had been quoted, the 'chicken soup for the soul' routine may not sound so patronizing.
  
  The exercises in 'The Possible Human' read like busy work for people with too much time on their hands, and for those who make their living setting up expensive workshops retreats. I prefer the straightforward honest writing of Pema Chodron to florid new age jargon, pseudo science and neurotic contemplation of the navel any day.
• 
  Joyce

  I enjoyed reading this Book by Jean Houston...who doesn't enjoy her Books
  because she makes them come alive...She discribes the Possible Human as someone who can BE anything we set our minds to and she describes
  many characters...l think that Jean has demonstrated most of these characters in her own life...from a little girl and she continues now...
• 
  Hilary Norton

  
  
  Brilliant