A plea for compassion for the murderers in our midst, who in the authors' Freudian view, where good and evil do not exist, re pitiable victims, differing from the rest of us not in kind but only in degree. Psychotherapist Strean and writer Freeman (Behind the Couch, 1990; The Severed Soul, 1988) explain how the basic aggression all humans are born with can be transformed into murderous hostility when children are deprived of love and security and subjected to abuse in its many forms. Following a look at the origins of the murderous impulse, the authors discuss murder of children by parents and vice versa, murder of wives by husbands and vice versa, serial killers, and finally murder of self, or suicide. Case studies abound. While ostensibly seeking our sympathy for murders as society's victims, however, Strean and Freeman have chosen to include horrific details of crimes that are more likely to evoke revulsion than sympathy for their perpetrators. Debatable, even dubious claims are stated as absolute facts-''What precipitated Marilyn Monroe's suicide was loss of a lover, Attorney General Robert Kennedy, who decided to remain with his wife and eight children instead of marrying her''-sometimes with little apparent justification for inclusion other than their titillation value. A rather glib treatment of a serious problem that lingers too long on the details of murders and comes up short in its stated aim of showing how we can be more loving, constructive human beings and society can be made more thoughtful and caring.
Pub Date: April 30, 1991
ISBN: 0-312-05488-2
Page Count: 304
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1991
Categories: HEALTH & FITNESS
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A food writer and historian argues that humans would be healthier with a more diverse diet.
McWilliams (History/Texas State Univ.; The Modern Savage: Our Unthinking Decision to Eat Animals, 2015, etc.) continues the attack on foodies, locavores, highbrow restaurants, and agribusiness’s “corn-soy-sugar-animal complex” that he mounted in previous books. Here, the author profiles quirky individuals who are “pursuing peripheral culinary goals” that “have the potential to revolutionize how we think about the human diet.” The author’s overriding assumption is that it would be better for people, animals, and the environment if our diets were more diversified. Hundreds of plants and protein sources, he rightly notes, are overlooked in favor of a narrow range of food. McWilliams hopes for a “global food system that’s accessible, flexible, abundant, sustainable, healthy, humane, and resourceful.” How that ideal could be achieved is left to readers’ imaginations. The author champions the bonobo, which eats a diverse array of plants, insects, grubs, and shellfish, and cavemen, who hunted and foraged for all their food. McWilliams begins by focusing on the Reeds, obese parents and son who have been victimized, he contends, by “a food system that rendered them emotionally depressed, physically sick, and socially ostracized.” Determined to lose weight, they embarked on a diet and exercise program and achieved success within a short time. However, as the author acknowledges, their struggle will be lifelong, embedded as they are in a food culture intent on undermining them. Among others profiled are a family that exists on foraged plants and venison, felled with a bow and arrow; a man who gathers and sells seaweed; an insect farmer promoting the nutritional value of bugs; oyster farmers; and a motley group of freegans, who forage among trash bags outside of markets and restaurants. Sadly, writes the author, over 40 percent of food in America is thrown out.
McWilliams presents a solid argument, though it is not as radical or inspiring as he may have hoped, and the book could use more focused attention on creating the ideal world the author envisions.Pub Date: May 16, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-61902-735-0
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Counterpoint
Review Posted Online: Feb. 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2017
Categories: HEALTH & FITNESS
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Part memoir and part pep talk, this debut book urges dieters to stop counting fat grams and learn to enjoy food.
When her mother died, Irwin was devastated. She was also mortified that old friends would see her at the funeral because she had “gained so much weight.” Trapped in a cycle of yo-yo dieting that had begun when she was in junior high, Irwin was a size 22 by the time she was in her 40s. Miserable, she constantly berated herself while agonizing over calories and eating prepackaged diet industry food. Then one day Irwin decided to stop dieting and love herself at any weight, eating without guilt or shame. A big believer in the “law of attraction,” where thoughts create reality, she began thinking positively about herself. Retraining her mind to view food as pleasurable nourishment, she started eating nutrient-dense items—including leafy green vegetables and fruits. And if she wanted a piece of cake—well, she just went ahead and devoured it. The pounds began coming off naturally, and as time passed, Irwin’s once overweight body became fit. This dramatic and familiar life story quickly turns into an upbeat motivational speech for stressed-out dieters, as Irwin divulges her no-frills secret for healthy weight loss—eat good food and feel great about it. While this common-sense approach isn’t new, diet-disgusted readers who don’t mind a curse word or two may be able to relate to Irwin’s friendly, plainspoken voice, as when she describes dysfunctional labels people often place on food: “How about this classic attitude, ‘Fuck it, I’ve been so bad this week I think I’ll just eat the rest of this box of cookies’?” Some of the author’s inspirational thoughts are memorable: she compares the negative voice in her head to a bully who shouldn’t be tolerated. Light on diet jargon and health-related facts (the author mentions that 68.5 percent of U.S. adults are overweight, but she doesn't cite sources), this thin, fast-paced work can be read in a couple of hours.
A realistic, motivating conversation about weight loss for those who have tried everything else and failed.Pub Date: Sept. 14, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5043-6051-7
Page Count: 124
Publisher: BalboaPress
Review Posted Online: April 18, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Categories: BODY, MIND & SPIRIT | HEALTH & FITNESS
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