An artful collaboration between psychiatrist Rosenfeld (A Dissenter in the House of God, 1990) and the late Bruno Bettelheim that scrutinizes the process of psychodynamic psychotherapy in a sampling of composite case-conference material and that reveals Bettelheim in all his controversial aspects. Here, the eminent analyst, prolific author, and virtuoso teacher is charming, insightful, and irritating all at once, tangling with an impatient, biologically minded practitioner (``better living through biochemistry''), interrupting another therapist and justifying his behavior, or arguing for an easy supply of sweets as a therapeutic tool when working with disturbed children. Much of this is the stuff of a typical residents' seminar: How the therapist's anxiety can interfere with the process; how family secrets often sneak into a session; why an inability to empathize with the most disturbed is an occupational hazard. As each case develops, Bettelheim and Rosenfeld look not only at what the patient says but also at how the therapist responds, demonstrating the importance of the first visit, explaining why emotionally abused children need to be indulged, and discussing ethical factors in research protocols. Although Rosenfeld has shaped these meetings (which took place 1977-83) into coherent exchanges, he's fastidious in pointing out distinct contributions and, in a few instances, he even comments on failings in the aging analyst's attitude—suggesting, for example, that Bettelheim didn't always seem to appreciate sufficiently a parent's pain. But Rosenfeld fails to address in depth the allegations of abuse directed at Bettelheim by former students after his death, and, showing only respect and admiration for his mentor's skill as therapist and teacher, he contends that Bettelheim committed suicide only after trying all available treatments for his declining condition. A fluent, discriminating presentation of established psychoanalytic principles, showing Bettelheim at his best.
Pub Date: Jan. 5, 1993
ISBN: 0-679-40029-X
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1992
These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.
A helpful guide to working effectively with people from other cultures.
“The sad truth is that the vast majority of managers who conduct business internationally have little understanding about how culture is impacting their work,” writes Meyer, a professor at INSEAD, an international business school. Yet they face a wider array of work styles than ever before in dealing with clients, suppliers and colleagues from around the world. When is it best to speak or stay quiet? What is the role of the leader in the room? When working with foreign business people, failing to take cultural differences into account can lead to frustration, misunderstanding or worse. Based on research and her experiences teaching cross-cultural behaviors to executive students, the author examines a handful of key areas. Among others, they include communicating (Anglo-Saxons are explicit; Asians communicate implicitly, requiring listeners to read between the lines), developing a sense of trust (Brazilians do it over long lunches), and decision-making (Germans rely on consensus, Americans on one decider). In each area, the author provides a “culture map scale” that positions behaviors in more than 20 countries along a continuum, allowing readers to anticipate the preferences of individuals from a particular country: Do they like direct or indirect negative feedback? Are they rigid or flexible regarding deadlines? Do they favor verbal or written commitments? And so on. Meyer discusses managers who have faced perplexing situations, such as knowledgeable team members who fail to speak up in meetings or Indians who offer a puzzling half-shake, half-nod of the head. Cultural differences—not personality quirks—are the motivating factors behind many behavioral styles. Depending on our cultures, we understand the world in a particular way, find certain arguments persuasive or lacking merit, and consider some ways of making decisions or measuring time natural and others quite strange.
These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.Pub Date: May 27, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-61039-250-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2014
If the authors are serious, this is a silly, distasteful book. If they are not, it’s a brilliant satire.
The authors have created a sort of anti-Book of Virtues in this encyclopedic compendium of the ways and means of power.
Everyone wants power and everyone is in a constant duplicitous game to gain more power at the expense of others, according to Greene, a screenwriter and former editor at Esquire (Elffers, a book packager, designed the volume, with its attractive marginalia). We live today as courtiers once did in royal courts: we must appear civil while attempting to crush all those around us. This power game can be played well or poorly, and in these 48 laws culled from the history and wisdom of the world’s greatest power players are the rules that must be followed to win. These laws boil down to being as ruthless, selfish, manipulative, and deceitful as possible. Each law, however, gets its own chapter: “Conceal Your Intentions,” “Always Say Less Than Necessary,” “Pose as a Friend, Work as a Spy,” and so on. Each chapter is conveniently broken down into sections on what happened to those who transgressed or observed the particular law, the key elements in this law, and ways to defensively reverse this law when it’s used against you. Quotations in the margins amplify the lesson being taught. While compelling in the way an auto accident might be, the book is simply nonsense. Rules often contradict each other. We are told, for instance, to “be conspicuous at all cost,” then told to “behave like others.” More seriously, Greene never really defines “power,” and he merely asserts, rather than offers evidence for, the Hobbesian world of all against all in which he insists we live. The world may be like this at times, but often it isn’t. To ask why this is so would be a far more useful project.
If the authors are serious, this is a silly, distasteful book. If they are not, it’s a brilliant satire.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-670-88146-5
Page Count: 430
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1998
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