In an enlightening but limited study, Jack (Psychology/Western Washington Univ.) focuses on the psychosocial factors behind female depression. Referring to classical theorists (Bowlby, Freud, Winnicott, etc.) as well as to contemporary mentors (Heilbrum, Gilligan, Bernard, etc.) and important cultural observers (Rich, Dinnerstein, Olsen, etc.), she presents a formulation based on the centrality of relationships in women's lives. Contending that interpersonal intimacy, not separation, is ``the profound organizer of female experience,'' Jack rejects the standard mental-health definition of depression, with its assumptions of male dominance, and looks for new, specifically female norms using depressed women as guides (and trusting their reliability as witnesses). She uncovers several common themes in their lives with men—patterns of self-censorship and anger resulting in the absence of intimacy—and examines their cultural sources: how women learn to shape their behavior to fit an imagined male ideal, say, or how mothers pass along submissive behaviors to daughters. Much of this is valuable to understanding some depressions, and the many examples of women who stifle impulses and their authentic selves, and who undermine the integrity of their relationships with men, offer strong validation. Jack can even turn unlikely material like the story of Rumpelstiltskin into relevant testimony. But her sample is slight (twelve DSM-III diagnosed women seen several times during a two-year period) and doesn't reflect a full range of depression onsets. Moreover, although she refers to the presence of biological factors in the opening chapter, they play no part in the argument that follows. Jack also neglects other instances of depression—including those following illness or a loved one's death, and depression in males—that would have been useful for contrast. Even so, look for this as a complement to often-cited books already on the shelves and expect readers to respond to the unadorned anecdotes, forceful prose style, and steady flow of insights into the dynamics of female depression.
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1991
ISBN: 0-674-80815-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Harvard Univ.
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1991
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.
The legendary booze-addled metal rocker turned reality-TV star comes clean in his tell-all autobiography.
Although brought up in the bleak British factory town of Aston, John “Ozzy” Osbourne’s tragicomic rags-to-riches tale is somehow quintessentially American. It’s an epic dream/nightmare that takes him from Winson Green prison in 1966 to a presidential dinner with George W. Bush in 2004. Tracing his adult life from petty thief and slaughterhouse worker to rock star, Osbourne’s first-person slang-and-expletive-driven style comes off like he’s casually relating his story while knocking back pints at the pub. “What you read here,” he writes, “is what dribbled out of the jelly I call my brain when I asked it for my life story.” During the late 1960s his transformation from inept shoplifter to notorious Black Sabbath frontman was unlikely enough. In fact, the band got its first paying gigs by waiting outside concert venues hoping the regularly scheduled act wouldn’t show. After a few years, Osbourne and his bandmates were touring America and becoming millionaires from their riff-heavy doom music. As expected, with success came personal excess and inevitable alienation from the other members of the group. But as a solo performer, Osbourne’s predilection for guns, drink, drugs, near-death experiences, cruelty to animals and relieving himself in public soon became the stuff of legend. His most infamous exploits—biting the head off a bat and accidentally urinating on the Alamo—are addressed, but they seem tame compared to other dark moments of his checkered past: nearly killing his wife Sharon during an alcohol-induced blackout, waking up after a bender in the middle of a busy highway, burning down his backyard, etc. Osbourne is confessional to a fault, jeopardizing his demonic-rocker reputation with glib remarks about his love for Paul McCartney and Robin Williams. The most distinguishing feature of the book is the staggering chapter-by-chapter accumulation of drunken mishaps, bodily dysfunctions and drug-induced mayhem over a 40-plus-year career—a résumé of anti-social atrocities comparable to any of rock ’n’ roll’s most reckless outlaws.
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.Pub Date: Jan. 25, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-446-56989-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2009
IN THE NEWS
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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