Uplifting, strongly researched but accessible book by Kathy Cronkite, Walter's daughter, following her studiously serious On the Edge of the Spotlight (1981). Herself a victim of what Winston Churchill called ``the black dog,'' and here offering hope and courage, Cronkite attacks the stigma of depression, describes the disease as it's known through the latest research, and interviews well-known medical researchers and famed victims—including Mike Wallace, Joan Rivers, Dick Clark, Kitty Dukakis, Rod Steiger, Rona Barrett, Ann Buchwald, Jules Feiffer, John Kenneth Galbraith, Rose and William Styron, and Judith Belushi Pisano, among others. Clinical depression, Cronkite finds, can't be lifted by simple affirmative pick-me-ups and self- help slogans: ``However, if you've had one bout of depression and can learn to recognize the symptoms early on, often you can avert a full-blown relapse by practicing good self-care and self-esteem building activities....'' Says Barbara Parry, M.D.: ``Over the course of a lifetime, if depression is not treated aggressively in its early stages, it tends to get worse, not better. You don't develop antibodies.'' Cronkite focuses on ``moderate, unipolar [no manic highs], major depression, not on the small percentage of the severely ill, the chronically hospitalized, the psychotic, or on those whose depression is amenable to self-help therapy, such as exercise or meditation.'' Is depression biological or psychological? It's always both, says Dr. A. John Bush. Life stress doesn't do the illness any good, ``but it doesn't explain everything; people have an underlying biological/genetic proclivity, and with or without the stress, they get the illness.'' Riveting, with not a dull word throughout. Should be of help to depressives in understanding their illness while seeking treatment.
Pub Date: March 9, 1994
ISBN: 0-385-42194-X
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1994
A well-considered, compact guide to centuries of literature about kindness and happiness.
Danks invites readers to contemplate the legacies and memories they will leave, sharing numerous passages and summaries from literature and self-help books that direct people to happiness through sharing and kindness.
Man has sought, throughout time, fame, wealth and immortality–but also happiness. Contentment has also been a goal of the author’s, as he summarizes and considers many sources here, from books to film, for readers. Danks argues that we all have time left to improve our quality of life by doing simple tasks. Urging generosity, compassion, selflessness and grace, the book compiles many sources of wisdom into a concise volume, with some tips for everyday behaviors that may guide pilgrims on this path. Danks believes that these positive changes will bring rewards to the giver as well as the recipients, including creating a sort of good karma feedback loop in which practicing kindness can make a person even more thoughtful and aware of their surroundings. Judge less and assume people have good intentions, he writes, and be thankful for the good actions of those around you. The author also addresses situations of which higher income groups may have little understanding, including the approximately 12 percent of Americans who live in poverty, and the aspects that make the leap to middle class so difficult for many. While he provides a couple suggestions to ease their lot, this topic is not completely addressed, nor is the question of how such inequality experienced by all in daily life affects happiness up and down the economic ladder. But Danks also recognizes the largest argument that many people may have against improving their lives–not enough time–and provides references and examples to illustrate how space can be made for kindness. The book concludes with 40 simple actions a person might take to incorporate kindness into daily life.
A well-considered, compact guide to centuries of literature about kindness and happiness.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-615-24207-1
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A professional alarmist's attention-grabbing, albeit overstated, appraisal of a brave new world in which demand for labor could fall ruinously short of supply. Citing anecdotal evidence from a wealth of secondary sources, Rifkin (Biosphere Politics, 1991) provides worst-case projections of the job-loss havoc that remains to be wreaked by labor-saving advances in agriculture, banking, manufacturing, retailing, transport, and other enterprises that once afforded secure employment. Given the gains routinely achieved in the state of the bioscience, computer, robotics, and allied arts, he insists that there's precious little reason to believe that downsizing American corporations and their foreign counterparts won't continue to do more with less. Unless immediate steps are taken to rectify the situation, the author warns, civil unrest, open conflict between haves and have-nots, or even anarchy could result from what he calls the third industrial revolution. Not too surprisingly, Rifkin offers a lengthy list of suggestions for protecting the global village from the socioeconomic crises that could erupt when and if technology idles new multitudes of erstwhile breadwinners. To illustrate, he urges sharing of productivity gains (e.g., via shorter work weeks) and greater incentives for participation in the voluntary (i.e., non-marketplace) sector, such as time-based tax deductions. The author goes on to propose that government should encourage communitarian activity by substituting so-called social wages (e.g. negative income tax) for welfare. As a practical matter, then, Rifkin is recommending utopian solutions for the dystopian problems that could accrue in the arguable event that current trends persist. (Robert L. Heilbroner provides the book's foreword.) A bleak reckoning of the potential price of progress that will strike many observers as longer on ardor than analysis. (First printing of 50,000; author tour)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-87477-779-8
Page Count: 368
Publisher: TarcherPerigee
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1994
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