A relentlessly optimistic guidebook on finding and securing individual happiness.
The former president of the American Psychological Association repaves the path to true happiness.
Seligman (Authentic Happiness, 2002, etc.) parlays his 20-year experience studying and applying theories about personal contentment into an instructional book on personal growth through affirmative, upbeat reinforcement—a continuance of the author’s “positive psychology” movement. The author surprisingly admits that the word happiness has become virtually meaningless because of its rampant overuse in contemporary society, and he focuses on the promotion of individual well-being. Promoting these concepts in schools and the armed forces (“resilience training”) could be a key element, he writes, in the advancement of happiness in youth and those consistently engaged in difficult, demanding situations. Seligman discredits the rampant overuse of anti-depressants in the administration of “biological psychiatry,” advocating instead for increased curative efforts rather than temporary symptom suppression. Utilizing interactive exercises, case histories and examples from everyday life (health and wealth factors), the author energetically coaches those interested in self-improvement and personal growth. But is acquiring happiness such a complex, theoretical accomplishment? Seligman believes so and never wavers in his belief in a well-honed, systematic process of managed satisfaction. Though certain sections become garrulous and repetitive, graphs, charts and tables offer refreshingly visual proof of the success of his model, including a reprint of his “Signature Strengths Test.” An elusive quality for some, a natural condition for others, happiness, Seligman avows, is a priceless emotion to cultivate and preserve.
A relentlessly optimistic guidebook on finding and securing individual happiness.Pub Date: April 5, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4391-9075-3
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Free Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 29, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An intriguing look at suicide weighed down by dense facts and figures.
A mechanical engineer zeroes in on the physiological dynamics of the brain in a valiant effort to explain suicide and make sense of his son’s death.
In 2002, Sanchez’s son Mitchell Xavier killed himself after suffering for years from depression and panic attacks. Unsatisfied with current therapies and methods of pharmacology, the author has written two previous books searching for clues to the causes of depression and other brain disorders. This third book continues the hunt, focusing on aftoktognosis, which the author defines as the knowledge of suicide. Despite a tendency to indulge in a deluge of statistics, Sanchez offers wise and elegant words–written by the likes of Andrew Solomon and Kay Redfield James–to bring dry facts to life. The centerpiece of the book is an exhaustive, often tedious exploration of the brain based on modern neurological theory, which concludes with a lengthy description of brain mechanics and the chemical changes that may lead to panic attacks, depression and suicide. A more successful section devoted to a catalogue of mental disorders is made memorable by the inclusion of the author’s personal experiences. In a brief, moving passage, Sanchez reveals that he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder in the months following his son’s suicide–anxiety disrupted his sleep and visions of Mitchell’s death haunted his waking hours. Later in the book, a suicide autopsy–a fascinating investigation into why a promising lawyer overdosed on pills–makes a convincing case that the many theories currently in play among psychiatrists and psychologists may work against each other, complicating the potential for prevention. Perhaps the most innovative theory presented involves the idea that the loss of a sense of self–otherwise known as idiozimia–may be the prerequisite for suicidal behavior. Sanchez ultimately concludes that saving a person from suicide depends on a more accurate assessment of risk and a deeper understanding of this tragic phenomenon through collaboration and communication.
An intriguing look at suicide weighed down by dense facts and figures.Pub Date: Dec. 14, 2007
ISBN: 978-1-4257-7990-0
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
This academic exploration of female sexuality is marred by a facile categorization of feminists. Sexologist McCormick (Psychology/State Univ. of New York, Plattsburgh; Changing Boundaries: Gender Roles and Sexual Behavior, not reviewed) simplistically defines feminists as either ``Liberal'' or ``Radical.'' She constructs the former as focused on women's sexual pleasure and the latter as concerned with protecting girls and women from sexual abuse and exploitation. Placing her work as outside the typical model of sex research centered on white, middle-class heterosexual women, McCormick seeks to widen her readers' conception of female sexuality with her discussion of seduction, intimacy, lesbians and bisexuals, female sex-trade workers, pornography, and models of pleasure and fulfillment. She challenges the popular belief that sex should have orgasm as its goal, asserting that it denies many women their sexuality, especially those who are paralyzed or otherwise disabled. In the context of her research, McCormick encourages us to move beyond the ``dehumanizing [equation of] sexuality with genital juxtapositions and intercourse'' and to view sexuality as ``a whole body and whole mind experience.'' She is at her strongest in her explorations of women sex-trade workers, sexual victimization, and pornography; she advocates the legalization of prostitution and the creation of erotic material that affirms women's sexuality. Unfortunately, McCormick has a tendency to idealize women as more sentimental, affectionate, and desirous of intimacy than men. She sees female sexuality as almost spiritual, which leads her to make some extravagant generalizations. She suggests, for instance, that lesbians value intimacy more than sex, that loving lesbian relationships work better than gay or straight relationships, and while she lists the dangers faced by female participants in the sex-trade industry, she tends to glamorize their agency. A flawed but sometimes astute analysis of power and sexual relations.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-275-94359-3
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Praeger
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1994
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