The secret is out: men are wild. Eldredge presents a solid case for men being warriors who yearn for a battle and beauty to win. Men were created to desire risk, courage and adventure. Wild at Heart explains how our culture has minimized and even stripped masculinity from the male population. Somewhere along the journey from childhood to adulthood boys stop being rough, rugged and adventurous. Being a man and masculinity is God’s design. Eldredge describes how most men find themselves far from feeling like a man and how to reconnect with the true identity God gave them.As a woman, the subtitle, Discovering the Secret of a Man’s Soul, piqued my curiosity. Men think women are hard to figure out but, men are equally mystifying. The ways of men and boys leaves me shaking my head in wonder. I was hoping to have my husband (and son) all figured out upon concluding the book. Saying I have them completely figured out would be an overstatement but, my understanding made great gains. The best way I can describe it is like this: any mom of boys has said countless times with an apologetic tone, “Boys will be boys.” Eldredge taught me not to apologize for my son being “all boy.” He’s supposed to be! and it’s my role to encourage and foster that as he grows.
Wild at Heart may seem like a book only for male readers but, the opposite is true. Eldredge intended for women to read this book just as much as men. As much as this book is for men, it is also for wives and mothers. All who read Wild at Heart will encounter many “aha” moments before the last page is turned.
Wild at Heart is based on the idea that men are really, well, wild at heart, that they yearn to be unshackled from the tedium of nice-guy living, to roam the plains bucking like the broncos God made them to be. I don't intend even a smidgen of sarcasm there. I feel like that's exactly what Eldredge is saying, and, to a certain extent, I agree.
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