A well-intentioned but sometimes-controversial guide to preventing and diagnosing behavioral problems.
An examination of adult neuroses connects most difficulties to early infancy and children’s interactions with their mothers.
Holtzman’s (Dead End Sex, 2016, etc.) manual intends to help mothers in “getting it right the first time” by discussing behaviors they should avoid in order to be “Mothers From Heaven” instead of “Mothers From Somewhere Far Below.” After learning about dermatoglyphics—the science of diagnosing disease by studying the hands and feet—Holtzman wondered if physical attributes could be used to identify behavioral problems. Touting the power of subconscious memories, the author claims that nothing is ever truly forgotten, asserting that babies’ positive maternal experiences—such as the uninterrupted comfort of suckling at breasts—are crucial to their healthy cognitive development. “Criminal mothering,” writes the author, makes a child feel worthless and creates adults “who are incapable of experiencing joy.” Freud is center stage in this exploration, and clinical jargon, such as the “false self” (an artificial persona created for protection from trauma), is applied liberally. In addition to definitions of terms, chapters include vivid anecdotes about people who suffer from various neuroses, like Janice, who was rejected by her mother as a child and is unable to form lasting adult relationships. Chapters conclude with useful tidbits; for example, instead of scowling when babies pick up dirty objects, mothers should smile and replace the offensive items with something suitable. Holtzman’s prose is academic and sometimes heady but never dull—there is even a little humor. He jokes about Jewish mothers who might whack him “with a purse” if he offers any advice about them. Somewhat old school in tone—footnotes explain that the pronoun he is used for grammatical continuity—this unapologetic work may be offensive to some readers. For example, ADD and ADHD are referred to as disorders that are “now the rage.” And even though he mentions genetics as one reason for homosexuality, Holtzman also claims that “deficit-father syndrome” is a cause.
A well-intentioned but sometimes-controversial guide to preventing and diagnosing behavioral problems.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-1-981696-92-5
Page Count: 286
Publisher: PDC Books
Review Posted Online: March 8, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A generous and singularly insightful examination of memoir.
A bestselling nonfiction writer offers spirited commentary about memoir, the literary form that has become synonymous with her name.
Personal narrative has exploded in popularity over the last 20 years. Yet, as Karr (Lit: A Memoir, 2009, etc.) points out, memoir still struggles to attain literary respectability. “There is a lingering snobbery in the literary world,” she writes, “that wants to disqualify what is broadly called nonfiction from the category of ‘literature.’ ” In this book, Karr offers both an apology for and a sharp-eyed exploration of this form born from her years as a practitioner as well as a distinguished English professor at Syracuse University. She begins by considering classroom “experiments” she has conducted to show the slipperiness of memory and arguing the need to give latitude to writers tackling memoir. Writing with the intent to record what rings true rather than exact is one thing; writing with the intent to lie is another. Voice is another critical aspect of any memoir that manages to endure through time. By examining works by writers as diverse as Frank McCourt and Vladimir Nabokov, Karr demonstrates that it is in fact the very thing by which a great memoir “lives or dies.” Rather than focus on the narrative truism of “show-don’t-tell,” Karr thoughtfully elaborates on what she calls “carnality”—the ability to transform memory into a multisensory experience—for the reader. When wed to a desire to move beyond the traps of ego and render personal “psychic struggle” honestly and without fear, carnality can lead to writing that not only “wring[s] some truth from the godawful mess of a single life,” but also connects deeply with readers. Karr’s sassy Texas wit and her down-to-earth observations about both the memoir form and how to approach it combine to make for lively and inspiring reading.
A generous and singularly insightful examination of memoir.Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-222306-7
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 5, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2015
PROFILES
Analyzing his craft, a careful craftsman urges with Thoreauvian conviction that writers should simplify, simplify, simplify.
A New York Times columnist and editorial board member delivers a slim book for aspiring writers, offering saws and sense, wisdom and waggery, biases and biting sarcasm.
Klinkenborg (Timothy; or, Notes of an Abject Reptile, 2006), who’s taught for decades, endeavors to keep things simple in his prose, and he urges other writers to do the same. (Note: He despises abuses of the word as, as he continually reminds readers.) In the early sections, the author ignores traditional paragraphing so that the text resembles a long free-verse poem. He urges readers to use short, clear sentences and to make sure each one is healthy before moving on; notes that it’s acceptable to start sentences with and and but; sees benefits in diagramming sentences; stresses that all writing is revision; periodically blasts the formulaic writing that many (most?) students learn in school; argues that knowing where you’re headed before you begin might be good for a vacation, but not for a piece of writing; and believes that writers must trust readers more, and trust themselves. Most of Klinkenborg’s advice is neither radical nor especially profound (“Turn to the poets. / Learn from them”), and the text suffers from a corrosive fallacy: that if his strategies work for him they will work for all. The final fifth of the text includes some passages from writers he admires (McPhee, Oates, Cheever) and some of his students’ awkward sentences, which he treats analytically but sometimes with a surprising sarcasm that veers near meanness. He includes examples of students’ dangling modifiers, malapropisms, errors of pronoun agreement, wordiness and other mistakes.
Analyzing his craft, a careful craftsman urges with Thoreauvian conviction that writers should simplify, simplify, simplify.Pub Date: Aug. 7, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-307-26634-7
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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