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THE HEALING MIND

Name: THE HEALING MIND
Author: Paul Martin
ISBN: 0-312-18664-9

THE VITAL LINKS BETWEEN BRAIN BEHAVIOR, IMMUNITY AND DISEASE

by Paul Martin ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 29, 1998

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For the nonscientist, an exceptionally readable—that is, both entertaining and enlightening—presentation of what is now known about how psychological and emotional states influence physical health and are in turn affected by it. A professor of behavioral biology in England, Martin deftly steers a clear path between what he calls the “Cavaliers of mind-body interactions,” who uncritically accept the notion that the mind is the source of most bodily ills, and the “Roundhead sceptics,” who dismiss the mind-body connection as pseudoscience, labeling that may have more resonance for his countrymen than for American readers. He presents evidence to show that what goes on in people’s minds really does affect their chances of becoming ill or dying, and he examines just how mind and body interact. The mind, he explains, can influence health indirectly by making us believe we are ill and by altering the way we behave, and more directly, by influencing our immune system’s defenses. He also relates what research is beginning to uncover about what the immune system can do to the mind. Specifically, Martin looks at the mind-body connection in two major killers, heart disease and cancer, examining the roles played by psychological stress, personality type, and social relationships. He dismisses the motion that cancer can be cured by positive thinking or by guided mental imagery, calling these techniques “latter-day miracle cures” promoted by “New Age gurus.” To illustrate his points, Martin cleverly draws on fictional characters, from Dr. Pangloss in Voltaire’s Candide and Willy Loman in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman to Basil Fawlty of television’s Fawlty Towers. In his closing chapter, Martin describes how evolutionary medicine, which applies Darwinian theory to the problems of medicine, asking “How did this develop?”instead of “How does this work?”, offers a new perspective on the complex connections between mind, body, and disease. A clear-headed survey of a muddy field.

None

Pub Date: Aug. 29, 1998

ISBN: 0-312-18664-9

Page Count: 384

Publisher: Dunne/St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1998

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.