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OUR NECESSARY SHADOW

Name: OUR NECESSARY SHADOW
Author: Tom Burns
ISBN: 978-1-60598-570-1

THE NATURE AND MEANING OF PSYCHIATRY

by Tom Burns ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 15, 2014

A responsible, evenhanded exploration of a highly provocative medical industry.

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A comprehensive history and analysis of the practice of psychiatry.

Burns (Social Psychiatry/Oxford Univ.) admits to developing a predilection for the craft of psychoanalysis after his mother suffered a nervous breakdown when he was a teenager and he observed the “enormous difference” her treatments made. Now a practicing psychiatrist, the author attempts a qualitative and personally reflective examination of his livelihood, a medical specialty that, he asserts, has long confused and confounded our culture. In the introduction, Burns pinpoints the main psychiatric illnesses affecting the adult population, and the first chapter, however oddly placed, forms a helpful preparatory primer for those seeking care. The author discusses the field’s origins, from asylum care (the “essential precursors” to modern psychiatry) to the exploration of mental unconsciousness and theories of automatism, psychoanalysis and the fight-or-flight internal battle of soldiers with shell shock. Burns notes how early barbaric psychiatric treatments like insulin-induced comas, surgical leucotomies and aggressive electroconvulsive therapy have all contributed to a perpetually negative slant on the practice, but he remains optimistic about its future and displays and emphasizes the importance of psychiatry as a legitimate, trustworthy medical practice. “Deinstitutionalization” and the blooming popularity of antidepressants, along with advancements in neuroscience, collectively counteract these aspersions. Additionally, Burns shares his own frustrations regarding the “philosophical and ethical contradictions” of delivering professional psychiatric care and argues against the misconstrued belief that the practice is an outmoded hustle. He dexterously synthesizes all of this material into a broad-minded volume which may prove “more descriptive than explanatory” for some but that articulately grasps the past and present modalities of psychiatry. Writes Burns, “[psychiatry] is ‘our necessary shadow’ in that it deals with illnesses that are a part of what we are, not things that just happen to us such as flu or a broken leg.”

A responsible, evenhanded exploration of a highly provocative medical industry.

Pub Date: June 15, 2014

ISBN: 978-1-60598-570-1

Page Count: 384

Publisher: Pegasus

Review Posted Online: May 6, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2014

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.