Beyond the Hero

The high point of this analysis of male maturation is the fairy tales that psychiatrist Chinen uses to explore his theme. The tales range from simple life lessons, like the fate of the only barber capable of trimming the hair of a goat-eared king without laughing, to the almost surreal journeys of Lustig, a former soldier who is unknowingly befriended by Saint Peter. Chinen's explications often seem a rehash of the theories of Carl Jung, Robert Bly and others who have written about male archetypes. Chinen quotes freely from his sources and sometimes draws on both his personal experiences and his work as a therapist. His main thesis is that these tales deal with the midlife point of the male maturation process, when a man moves from being a trickster to being a patriarch. As a modern example, Chinen cites the Bohemian Club, a male-only group that once a year carries on festivities in the California wilderness. The final story traces the formation of modern culture. In analyzing it, Chinen makes questionable statements--such as that boys are more active than girls ``from birth''--and then issues a disclaimer, calling his own interpretation of the facts ``another myth.'' (Aug.)