Controlling People: How to Recognize, Understand, and Deal with People Who Try to Control You
An interpersonal communications specialist, Evans (The Verbally  Abusive Relationship) has written a timely book that not only  helps readers free themselves from controlling types but also  seeks to explain the occurrence of verbal abuse, battering,  stalking, harassment, hate crimes, gang violence, tyranny,  terrorism, and territorial invasion. What she calls a  "compelling force" overcomes these controllers; because they  sense the overwhelming "psychic pain, distress, and discord  permeating the world," they must impose a twisted kind of order  on their friends, lovers, and acquaintances. Often, she  continues, people with good intentions end up doing the opposite  of what they would need to do to realize a goal or fulfill a  need. This is a compelling work, but it belongs in the hands of  counselors; lay readers who feel controlled will find it  worthwhile but hard going. Public and academic libraries with  special collections on relationships should also strongly  consider. Susan E. Burdick, MLS, Reading, PACopyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.