Just like it sounds, control freaks are people who feel the need to control everything in their life.

This book is split up in two sections:
1) How to deal with people in your life who might be control freaks (ie. an employee might have to deal with a manager who is a control freak)
2) If the reader is a control freak, tips to implement to break down these bad habits

This one's just not for me and I have had terrible luck with self help books recently. It's slightly discouraging. Very quickly there was some jesus material which immediately turned me off. Then I realized that the book is more for dealing with control freaks, not being one yourself. There's a small portion at the end about it but I didn't learn much from it.

In the spoiler I'm typing out a couple paragraphs that resonated with me quite a bit. It's not necessarily a spoiler.

Deep in the soul of every control freak is an ample supply of anxiety, a seemingly endless stream that continually fuels the fear of being out of control. Control freaks can't relax because they feel at risk of being criticized or shamed for making an error. To feel safe, they feel that they have to be superhuman 24 hours a day. They have to master every situation. The strain of constantly trying to keep from failing pushes them more and more into trying to control everything and everybody.

If you are a self confessed control freak, you know just what I mean, Though few people around you suspect it, you're well aware of the worry and distress that too often plagues your days. On the one hand, you must live up to the impossible self-image you have created for yourself but on the other hand, you deeply doubt your ability to do it. Anxiety is the result. And you know how anxiety fuels your desire to create a world that runs just the way you want it to. You know how it causes you to compulsively control not only your environment but also the people in it. You count on their compliance. The result is more anxiety and that fuels more unhealthy attempts to control it. You long to relax. To let down your guard. To be who you really are without fear of failure or rejection.

I read through this quickly at a bookstore. It's easy to read and very accessible, and the descriptions of control freak behavior — broken into categories, illustrated with examples, and identifiable with checklists — are excellent. I also appreciate how Parrott shows the diverse, context-specific ways control freak behavior can manifest, with separate chapters like spouse, boss, parent, etc. However, the book has two major flaws. First, Parrott does not contextualize control break behavior in a system broader than the individual's own personal history. He fails to acknowledge the relationships between control freak behavior and male power — this is especially clear in the "Supervising Spouse" chapter, where he gives examples of domineering husbands but never makes a link to patriarchy and misogyny — nor does he recognize the connection between controlling behavior and abuse. Second, his advice for dealing with control freaks is rather lacking. He suggests that the victim — that is, the person being controlled — is partially responsible for the behavior of the control freak and offers strategies that will only work if the control freak him/herself is actually willing to change. Overall an interesting read for anyone familiar with control freaks, but you should turn somewhere else if you're looking for stronger analysis and more helpful solutions.

Read it. Good Read. I'm still a control freak....

Life