The author is the Canadian Psychologist Jordan Peterson who is a total internet/youtube sensation. And the book (4,116 reviews on amazon as of today) is rightfully a huge best seller. It's been on the amazon best seller list for 47 weeks and will probably be there for several years.
Each of the 12 Rules has it's own chapter (the first one is about lobsters and worth the price of the book), with some of the rules sounding rather odd – like #11 "Do not bother children when they are skateboarding" – but make sense when you read the chapter. Other rules are quite straightforward such as #9 "Assume the person you're listening to might know something you don't.".
Peterson's message is that life is difficult but you need to take responsibility for your own life. He is extremely popular with young men – it is my son Joe who first put me onto him. Peterson's reputation went way up (or down, depending on your perspective) after this widely publicized interview on the BBC with Cathy Newman https://youtu.be/Mufh9oKYf5Y . The link is to an 8 minute excerpt of the whole 30 minute interview. The complete interview can easily be found on youtube.
When asked to trim down his twelve rules – here's what he says –
(1) Pursue what is meaningful to you, not what is expedient & (2) Tell the truth, or at least don’t lie
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