In this nonfiction work, Croxton argues that modern human minds succeed through the interaction of the distinctly male and female hemispheres of the brain.
There have always been traits that genetics cannot explain, which are frequently ascribed to environmental conditions—that is, the concept of “nurture” rather than “nature.” Croxton disagrees and says that he believes that one’s personality traits are also products of nature. They’re unique and original to each person, he argues, and they stem from an ongoing genetic power struggle that stretches back to the early days of our species. Furthermore, he says, they’re tied to the gendered halves of our brains: “Anatomical gender is our external reproductive identity while neurological gender is our internal ancestral legacy expressed as a blend of ‘maleness’ and ‘femaleness’ in the respective hemispheres of the brain: our ‘two minds.’ ” Essential to his theory, he says, is understanding the way that DNA (genetic material) and RNA (epigenetic material) collaborate to create a species that’s shaped by the past yet retains flexibility for future development. Croxton bolsters his assertions by taking readers through a psychological history of civilization, from Neolithic warfare and societal organization to the rise of self-awareness and religion. Along the way, he charts the neurological traits of “male” and “female,” describing how their symbiotic interaction shaped the ascendency of man from an ape of the plain to the master of the Earth. Some readers may take issue with the designation of the right hemisphere as female and the left as male. But although this distinction isn’t entirely semantic, people may miss Croxton’s engaging larger point if they focus solely on such gender-political issues: by elevating the creative, trusting right brain to the level of the destructive, dominating left brain, he says, Homo sapiens was able to pull ahead of other left-brain–dominant hominid groups. Croxton pursues this argument with recent findings from the fields of neurology, psychiatry, and anthropology. His strategy is wonkish and minutiae-based, and readers may sometimes feel lost in all the data. Even so, this book offers a thoughtful presentation of an intriguing theory.
A thought-provoking explanation for the origins of personality.
Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-9961176-0-9
Page Count: 161
Publisher: Palustris Press
Review Posted Online: July 8, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.
The legendary booze-addled metal rocker turned reality-TV star comes clean in his tell-all autobiography.
Although brought up in the bleak British factory town of Aston, John “Ozzy” Osbourne’s tragicomic rags-to-riches tale is somehow quintessentially American. It’s an epic dream/nightmare that takes him from Winson Green prison in 1966 to a presidential dinner with George W. Bush in 2004. Tracing his adult life from petty thief and slaughterhouse worker to rock star, Osbourne’s first-person slang-and-expletive-driven style comes off like he’s casually relating his story while knocking back pints at the pub. “What you read here,” he writes, “is what dribbled out of the jelly I call my brain when I asked it for my life story.” During the late 1960s his transformation from inept shoplifter to notorious Black Sabbath frontman was unlikely enough. In fact, the band got its first paying gigs by waiting outside concert venues hoping the regularly scheduled act wouldn’t show. After a few years, Osbourne and his bandmates were touring America and becoming millionaires from their riff-heavy doom music. As expected, with success came personal excess and inevitable alienation from the other members of the group. But as a solo performer, Osbourne’s predilection for guns, drink, drugs, near-death experiences, cruelty to animals and relieving himself in public soon became the stuff of legend. His most infamous exploits—biting the head off a bat and accidentally urinating on the Alamo—are addressed, but they seem tame compared to other dark moments of his checkered past: nearly killing his wife Sharon during an alcohol-induced blackout, waking up after a bender in the middle of a busy highway, burning down his backyard, etc. Osbourne is confessional to a fault, jeopardizing his demonic-rocker reputation with glib remarks about his love for Paul McCartney and Robin Williams. The most distinguishing feature of the book is the staggering chapter-by-chapter accumulation of drunken mishaps, bodily dysfunctions and drug-induced mayhem over a 40-plus-year career—a résumé of anti-social atrocities comparable to any of rock ’n’ roll’s most reckless outlaws.
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.Pub Date: Jan. 25, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-446-56989-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2009
BOOK REVIEW
IN THE NEWS
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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