This is the kind of review that busts up friendships, but I feel that my time reading this book is the single greatest time that my unorganised thoughts were crystallised in a succinct and potable tome. The doubts and iffiness I had about Peterson always perturbed the back of my head, but I hadn't given it much thought until I came upon this book. Some would say this is a hatchet-job on a perfectly respectable public intellectual. No...this is a scalpel to the carotid.
Let me explain: the book highlights absolutely every discrepancy in the story of JBP: quoting directly from his books, scientific studies, UN paper contributions, twitter posts and much else. The arguments in the book are (for the most part) grounded in reason and evidence, and demand the same of Peterson, which he fails to provide.
The foreword of the book (written by a person I dislike) hits absolutely every qualm I have with Peterson. It also appreciates the good the man has done for many. That is what the rest of the book does as well, and reverberates exactly with how I feel. The arguments against Peterson and his work sometimes veer into ad hominem territory, which I didn't much care for. Also relevant is that each chapter of "12 Rules for Life" is given a thorough seeing-to.
Having listened to barely 90 hours of JBP lectures and having shallowly read one book, I can't say I'm an expert on the man's work. However, if this book's quoting and information is true (and I see few reasons to argue that would not be the case), then this book may well be the shot to the back of the head that JBP needs. You usually need some (snake) oil to go with your (word) salad, and I think this particular academic may have sold his last batch.
9/10