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WILLFUL BLINDNESS

Name: WILLFUL BLINDNESS
Author: Margaret Heffernan
ISBN: 978-0-8027-1998-0

WHY WE IGNORE THE OBVIOUS AT OUR PERIL

by Margaret Heffernan ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2011

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Former CEO turned blogger explores the reasons why we don’t or won’t see what we should.

In a brisk, easy-to-ready foray into vast interior territory, Heffernan (How She Does It: How Women Entrepreneurs Are Changing the Rules of Business Success, 2007, etc.) ranges broadly in examining willful blindness in its many forms, all potentially ruinous to people, companies, even countries. The author suggests we overlook the obvious for love, for ideology, out of sheer fatigue or an abundance of riches. Often, those with blinders are happy to follow orders, scared to stand up to power or lulled into oblivion by the comfort of the familiar. Her cast of villains is ripped from recent headlines; Heffernan cites culpably oblivious Kenneth Lay of Enron, incurious Bernie Madoff investors and negligently aloof BP executives as prime examples of her hypothesis. As the book progresses, the author warns that the repercussions of ignoring the obvious have already lead to the near-collapse of the global economy, and extols readers to take heed of the approaching havoc that will result from our collective inattention to climate change. There is little in these pages a reader with a liberal education doesn’t already know, but the author provides a fresh retelling, as well as a call to arms to any whistle-blowers who see what lies ahead and have the courage to speak up. We need more of these people, writes the author. Not a bolt of lightning, but a sharp-eyed perspective on the ever-gathering storm.

Pub Date: March 1, 2011

ISBN: 978-0-8027-1998-0

Page Count: 304

Publisher: Walker

Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2011

Categories:

PSYCHOLOGY

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THE HILARIOUS WORLD OF DEPRESSION

by John Moe ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 5, 2020

The book would have benefited from a tighter structure, but it’s inspiring and relatable for readers with depression.

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The creator and host of the titular podcast recounts his lifelong struggles with depression.

With the increasing success of his podcast, Moe, a longtime radio personality and author whose books include The Deleted E-Mails of Hillary Clinton: A Parody (2015), was encouraged to open up further about his own battles with depression and delve deeper into characteristics of the disease itself. Moe writes about how he has struggled with depression throughout his life, and he recounts similar experiences from the various people he has interviewed in the past, many of whom are high-profile entertainers and writers—e.g. Dick Cavett and Andy Richter, novelist John Green. The narrative unfolds in a fairly linear fashion, and the author relates his family’s long history with depression and substance abuse. His father was an alcoholic, and one of his brothers was a drug addict. Moe tracks how he came to recognize his own signs of depression while in middle school, as he experienced the travails of OCD and social anxiety. These early chapters alternate with brief thematic “According to THWoD” sections that expand on his experiences, providing relevant anecdotal stories from some of his podcast guests. In this early section of the book, the author sometimes rambles. Though his experiences as an adolescent are accessible, he provides too many long examples, overstating his message, and some of the humor feels forced. What may sound naturally breezy in his podcast interviews doesn’t always strike the same note on the written page. The narrative gains considerable momentum when Moe shifts into his adult years and the challenges of balancing family and career while also confronting the devastating loss of his brother from suicide. As he grieved, he writes, his depression caused him to experience “a salad of regret, anger, confusion, and horror.” Here, the author focuses more attention on the origins and evolution of his series, stories that prove compelling as well.

The book would have benefited from a tighter structure, but it’s inspiring and relatable for readers with depression.

Pub Date: May 5, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-250-20928-3

Page Count: 304

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: Feb. 4, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020

Categories:

PSYCHOLOGY | SELF-HELP

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THE SOCIOPATH NEXT DOOR

THE RUTHLESS VERSUS THE REST OF US

by Martha Stout ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 8, 2005

Deeply thought-provoking and unexpectedly lyrical.

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From the author of The Myth of Sanity (2001), a remarkable philosophical examination of the phenomenon of sociopathy and its everyday manifestations.

Readers eager for a tabloid-ready survey of serial killers, however, will be disappointed. Instead, Stout (Psychiatry/Harvard Medical School) busies herself with exploring the workaday lives and motivations of those garden-variety sociopaths who are content with inflicting petty tyrannies and small miseries. As a practicing therapist, she writes, she has spent the past 25 years aiding the survivors of psychological trauma, most of them “controlled and psychologically shattered by individual human perpetrators, often sociopaths.” Antisocial personality disorder, it turns out, occurs in around four percent of the population, so it’s not too surprising that treating their victims has kept Stout quite busy for the past quarter-century. Employing vivid composite character sketches, the author introduces us to such unsavory characters as a psychiatric administrator who specializes in ingratiating herself with her office staff while making her patients feel crazier; a captain of industry who killed frogs as a child and is now convinced he can outsmart the SEC; and a lazy ladies’ man who marries purely to gain access to his new wife’s house and pool. These portraits make a striking impact, and readers with unpleasant neighbors or colleagues may find themselves paying close attention to Stout’s sociopathic-behavior checklist and suggested coping strategies. In addition to introducing these everyday psychopaths, the author examines why the rest of us let them get away with murder. She extensively considers the presence or absence of conscience, as well as our discomfort with questioning those seen as being in power. Stout also ponders our willingness to quash our inner voice when voting for leaders who espouse violence and war as a solution to global problems—pointed stuff in a post-9/11 political climate.

Deeply thought-provoking and unexpectedly lyrical.