Iron John by Robert W. Bly (1992, Paperback, Reprint)

Right up front, I am biased. I think Robert Bly is a genius. This book is one of the best books available on the stages of a man's life from a mythological perspective. If you are a man or a woman, and you are hungry for more depth around the historical roots of what it means to be male, this is an excellent book. If you are a woman, you may be surprised at how much the book resonates with your own experience especially if you strive to embody a balance of yin/yang. Bly with incredible skill discusses an old fairie story, and then goes in and reveals themes, discusses parallels to contemporary life, and fundamentally shows how some things change, and some things don't, and how richness is a treasure found by doing the slow patient work of one spoonful of soil at a time. Not in a mine, but a garden, and the hoe may be exchanged for the sword in times of need.
What did I dislike? All the misunderstood popular media crap out there that seeks to diminish the beauty and the devotional work of labors of love like this one.
Why did I buy it? For a friend who'll hopefully find a blosooming in his life as I did when I read this book 15 years ago when it came out.