A warm, touching look at the power of laughter.
A guide to using humor to improve your life.
Life hasn’t always been kind to David Jacobson. He lost his father at an early age. Soon after, he was diagnosed with severe arthritis that put an end to his dreams of an athletic career and left him temporarily confined to a wheelchair. But at his lowest point, when he was bedridden and forced to rely upon his mother for everything, Jacobson had a revelation. While attempting to race his mother to a ringing telephone, his purposefully exaggerated walk caused her to burst into laughter–making them both feel better. The author then realized that humor was a powerful tool for improving an individual’s health, mental state and general well-being. He also came to believe that humor could help in other areas, such as dealing with anger and helping people with divergent opinions communicate effectively with one another. In his book, Jacobson lays out his theories in detail. The author’s sense of humor ranges from the scatological to the brainy to the absurd. He effectively highlights examples from his own life to support his theories and presents a strong case for laughter. The narrative does seem somewhat disjointed at times, but, overall, its scattershot style fits in with the author’s less-than-serious approach to his topic. Most impressive is the book’s obvious warmth and sincerity. It reads like a labor of love, not an attempt to cash in, and it is difficult not to like the author by the end. While Jacobson’s work is short on true belly laughs, only the most hard-hearted and humorless of readers will get to the end without several, if not many, quality chuckles. The book’s collection of illustrations, including photographs and original artwork, fleshes out this guide to comic healing.
A warm, touching look at the power of laughter.Pub Date: June 26, 2007
ISBN: 978-160264-037-5
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Peck's megahit, The Road Less Traveled (1978), offered cures for the psychospiritual ills of lone men and women; this does the same for human clusterings, large or small. As Peck (A Bed by the Window, 1990, etc.) sees it, society is an unholy mess. The reason? Loss of ``civility,'' defined as ``consciously motivated organizational behavior''—that is, the ability to behave with attention and love toward other human beings. The solution? Certainly not a ``return to Eden,'' which some seek through drugs or alcohol. Rather, the answer is painful evolution into a higher awareness of self and other. Peck speaks despairingly of the ``hole in the mind,'' which is our propensity to act unconsciously in organizations. To teach us how to plug the hole, Peck makes use of systems theory, management training, lessons drawn from his psychiatric practice and personal life, and heavy doses of religious insight. The bottom line here is God and his unconditional love for all human beings. God exalts us; our job is to accept and work with this elevated status. As individuals, this means finding the right job and doing it well. Peck offers useful advice on both accounts (the best way to husband time, he says, is to spend some of it doing nothing—that is, in prayer and meditation). As for organizational life, this begins for many people with marriage. Echoing the realism he sounded in Road, Peck sees the only good reasons for marriage as kids or ``friction,'' i.e., struggle that leads to new life. Business, too, must be rooted in ethics, in which management styles from authoritarian to consensual have a place. In closing, Peck details the work of his Foundation for Community Encouragement, which holds workshops on community-building in businesses and other organizations. A peck of hardheaded, kindhearted advice; the author's best since Road. (First printing of 100,000)
Pub Date: March 15, 1993
ISBN: 0-553-09307-X
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Bantam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1993
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
More well-meaning New Age psychopop from the author of Guilt is the Teacher, Love is the Lesson (1990), etc. According to psychologist Borysenko, who tends to gush, her ``soul has burned with the question why''—specifically, why does God allow suffering? The answer is found in this, as she puts it, ``extraordinarily special'' book that offers a ``new and much needed psychology'' of healing—new, that is, if one has never cracked open a self-help book or watched Oprah, Phil, or Sally. Borysenko's basic premise is, in fact, as old as the hills: that suffering is ``an opportunity for soul growth.'' She tries valiantly to situate this idea in world religious thought, but she constantly mangles her sources—for instance, repeatedly misreading John of the Cross's ``dark night of the soul,''which refers to an aridity that comes in advanced stages of contemplation, as equivalent to psychological disorders (in Borysenko's own case, a childhood bout with compulsive-obsessive disorder). On the other hand, Borysenko does know her transpersonal psychology, and the book teems with condensations of the ideas of Larry Dossey, John Bradshaw, Stanislav Grof, et al., as well as innumerable plugs for Borysenko's earlier volumes. Despite minor differences, all these writers broadcast the same idea: that spiritual growth is possible but takes effort, including the overcoming of fear, addiction, and other deep-seated traumas. As for methodology, Borysenko seems fond of women's confessional groups, men's drumming groups, and, above all, past-life therapy (we travel back to medieval Britain, among other locales). She's keen on meditation as well, and offers a watered-down, de-Christian-ized version of centering prayer, and a watered-down, de-Buddhist-ized version of walking meditation. This fire in the soul may warm already converted New Agers, but most others will find it wan comfort indeed.
Pub Date: April 7, 1993
ISBN: 0-446-51466-7
Page Count: 256
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1993
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