No comments about Nationalism, Marxism, and Modern Central Europe: A Biography of Kazimierz Kelles-Krauz (1872-1905) (Harvard Papers in Ukrainian Studies).

2 comments about Wilhelm Reich: Psychoanalyst and Radical Naturalist.

1. This book does a reasonable job to overview Reich's life and most of his early work, though it fails to be as thorough as for example Sharaf's "Fury on Earth". The author gives his impressions of Reich's work, a philosopher's discourse and comparative review of Reich's behavioral findings as they relate to modern ideas in psychiatry and psychology... and on that matter he does a reasonable job. However, what bothered me was the terrible misrepresentation of Reich's biophysical research. Corrington either does not know about, or knows but for some reason fails to discuss, the multitude of controlled studies undertaken both during Reich's lifetime and after his death, which have verified the more controversial aspects of his biological and orgone energy discoveries. So, for example, the reader will learn nothing about: 1) DeMeo's 1970s University of Kansas replication of Reich's cloudbuster research, showing positive results, nor DeMeo's global cross-cultural study "Saharasia" which used standard anthropological evidence to prove the global accuracy of Reich's sex-economic findings on the origins of violence. 2) The double-blind and controlled studies of S. Mueschenich and R. Gebauer at the University of Marburg in the early 1980s, "The Psycho-Physiological Effects of the Reich Orgone Accumulator", verifying exactly Reich's original findings on the human physiological response to the orgone accumulator. Also not mentioned, the additional replication study of the orgone accumulator by G. Hebenstreit at the University of Vienna. (both of these are fully cited in DeMeo's "Orgone Accumulator Handbook") 3) The large number of replication studies on the orgone accumulator's effects upon plants and cancer mice by Richard Blasband, Courtney Baker, Robert Dew and others as published in many articles in the Journal of Orgonomy, Annals of the Institute for Orgonomic Science, Pulse of the Planet and (German) Emotion journals, from c.1965 up into the present. 4) Replication studies on Reich's bions, as made by biologists from R. duTeil in France, who presented his results to the French Academy of Science in 1938, to B. Grad in Canada to Dew, Blasband, and a whole list of others who made replications of Reich's biogenesis and bion experiments -- none are mentioned except in a single passing footnote (p.280, n.10) The recent issue of Pulse of the Planet (subtitled "Heretic's Notebook") shows color photos of protocells and bionous forms well on the path to life made from completely sterile and previously "dead" preparations, following or building upon Reich's original protocols, by Grad, Snyder and DeMeo, equal to anything published by NASA in the nature of contemporary "origins of life" research. 5) Also not mentioned, clinical studies from German physicians, where "Orgone Accumulator Therapy" has shown dramatic help to cancer patients and against other immune-system disorders. Unlike the USA, where the FDA uses policemen and the courts to assure a pharmaceutical monopoly, in Germany the orgone accumulator has a legal status similar to acupuncture and homeopathy, as an accepted form of "energetic medicine" which is even recommended to the EU by the German government for harmonization of medical practices. And so on. Corrington is an academic, sympathetic to Reich, and so he should have dug into and explicitly reported on these matters. He also apparently got the ear of Roger Straus, head of Farrar, Straus and Giroux publishers, who is intimate with the Wilhelm Reich Museum and also claims to be sympathetic to Reich -- so both the author and editor are in the "Reich circles" sufficiently to know about these studies, or at least to have been asking some questions. Why are the "friends of Reich" so systematically oblivious to these facts, or unwilling to mention them in new books such as this one? I know for a fact, that Straus was approached to publish other books which gave these facts on Reich's biophysical work, but those books were politely refused. Why? Why is it that those who are interested in Reich's therapeutic work, often denigrate and ignore his biophysical work. Why? A half-dozen emails by author Corrington to senior researchers following up on Reich's work over the years would have provided him with an abundant list of such replication studies -- the orgonelab.org website has an entire lengthy "Bibliography on Orgonomy" online and available to anyone, with an entire separate list of citations to Reich's work and the many replication studies. Nearly none of it is mentioned in the Corrington book, save for the materials on Reich's early work. Why? This is a glaring omission, a "condemning with faint praise" of his later biogenesis, cancer and orgone energy discoveries, and it stands out like a sore thumb. This book will help the dishonest "skeptics" to once again sit comfortably with their long-time disinformation and outright lies about Reich, which were responsible for his death in prison, for the burning of his books, and for the contemporary academic distortions and black-out on his important discoveries. This book will be a frustrating and upsetting read for those who know the facts.



2. Few important thinkers have been as marginalized as the psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich (1897-1957). Critics tend to focus on Reich's late, almost mystical writing, at the expense of his early breakthroughs in the analytic field. Indeed, Reich's critical ostracize repeats his personal and professional isolation from the 1930s onward. Rejected by the psychoanalytic community, and separated from his children, Reich ended his life in a federal prison on a charge, from of all places, the Food and Drug Administration. Robert Corrington's new book seeks to restore Reich's rightful place among other important twentieth century thinkers. A professor of theological philosophy at Drew University, Professor Corrington, places Reich's late work in a theological framework. More importantly, Corrington writes about Reich's work as a unified oeuvre whereby the later visions emerge logically from an earlier, more noted foundation.

   Orgasm theory is the lynchpin of Reich's thinking. More Freudian than Freud, Reich's devotion to a biological model emerges in the 1923 essay, "Concerning the Energy of Drives," which Corrington discusses in a detailed chapter on Reich's early writings and case studies. Reich refused Freud's postulation about a death drive stressed a life affirming philosophy at the time Freud turned toward ego psychology draining psychoanalysis of its radical core. Other early papers feature the seeds of character analysis delineated in 1925's study of the impulsive character. Corrington nicely outlines Reich's focus on the somatic core of illness and the significance of negative transference. Further, Corrington points out Reich's use of active intervention in the therapy session. Although Sandor Ferenczi also stressed an active engagement with the patient, Reich's work brought him into contact with the patient's social world and an understanding of how health requires not just individual emotion adjustment, but the transformation of social institutions. Chapter three focuses on The Mass Psychology of Fascism and Chapter four on Character Analysis. Each of these texts is classic and Corrington illuminates the works in a careful, balanced fashion. Sadly, therapy today continues to neglect the social dimension. Psychiatry's reliance on medication, which attacks only the symptom, rarely understands the dilemma of patients who cannot even afford the medication proscribed for them. Reich's sensitivity to the working class deserves the credit this book accords him.

   The text, as mentioned earlier, reads Reich's late work, in the context of the analyst's overall development. On one hand, Reich's preoccupation with orgone energy and his use of primitive technology like the "orgone accumulator" are difficult to take seriously
   Certainly, Reich lacked Einstein's theoretical genius and, consequently, could never formulate a reasonable account for his alleged findings. On the other hand, the super string theories of contemporary physicists also lack confirmation. What brings disparate thinkers together is a commitment to a unified theory of the universe and Corrington admirably outlines Reich's devotion to solving life's mystery, whether in failure (orgone energy) or triumph (the significance of social intervention in the therapeutic process). The book is highly recommended and should help return Reich's work to circulation. Dr. David Seelow, R.P.I.

No comments about R. D. Laing: A Life.

4 comments about To Redeem One Person Is to Redeem the World: The Life of Frieda Fromm-Reichmann.

1. The writer simply cannot write prose. Her attempt at metaphors are terribly jarring. I have never come across a published writer who was so bad.
   
   Terribly disappointing as I love Frieda Fromm-Reichmann and have read her work with fascination and joy.



2. I found this book way too depressing. The author seemed to make a point that Dr. Frieda was not the saint she apeared to be in the famous book from Greenburg. In every sentence, it was reaking with some pessimistic streak, even in the depictions of the many photos I found fascinated by. I love Greenburg's book dearly, and to just know such a person as Dr. Fried existed was enough to give light to this world. I think the author of this book should have mentioned more of the fact that Friada did accomplish an enourmous amount... It was awful how the author refrained Frieda's untimely death over and over and over again, as if her life had a sad fate, despite all that she strived for. Even her work with the real Johanna Greenburg is underminded, immediately followed by a whole chapter about a patient she was unsuccessful to reach out.
   Not recommended, although it is the only existing book I know about her, and I rushed to the library to get it as soon as I knew it was out. Too bad.



3. the author gave insight into the politics of the mental health field, from the philosopy of running private and public institutions to the competition between psychoanalysts, and competition beween the differant professions. From Reichman's story is written in the context of world history and the history and development of mental health treatment in the U.S.. All this plus the Freida Fromm-Reichman's philosopy and approach to analysis. The author provides a rich portrait embracing both the strengths and weaknesses of Fromm-Reichmann



4. This is a fascinating, well-written, well-researched biography of the psychotherapist who cured Deborah Blau, the patient in the best selling novel, I Never Promised you a Rose Garden (c1977). Even recent reviews of "Rose Garden" indicate confusion about Hannah Green (a pseudonym) and Joanne Greenberg (the author of this autobiographically-based novel). This book straightens it all out while exploring the fascinating life of Frieda Fromm-Reichmann.

No comments about The Rash Adventurer: A Life of John Pendlebury.

No comments about Vygotsky's Psychology: A Biography of Ideas.

4 comments about I Think I Scared Her.

1. This book is amazing and actually destigmatizes a lot of other human experiences in addition to "mental illness". The author's honesty and intelligence are empowering and truly inspirational. There is a long history of mental illness in my family and it has brought joy, pain and loss to my own life. This book removed the layer of icky fear that coated me every time I thought or talked about "mental illness". It helped me better undertand that a lot of the human experience of growing up and entering adulthood is shrouded in myth and fear. If we were all as brave and clear-headed as Brooke, the world would be a far, far, far better place.



2. I have a friend whose daughter has psychosis and I've never really understood what that meant. Reading Brooke's candid and intelligent account opened my eyes to the effect this has had on both my friend's daughter and on her family. I wish everyone would read this book and appreciate the courageousness of this young author and how she has made a life for herself despite living with psychosis. It's very impressive.



3. Though reading about Brooke's psychosis was interesting, the chapters towards the end of the book seemed to be lacking something. This may be from her being on antipsychotics or it may have been something else, but towards the end of the book, the book got less interesting than it had been at the beginning. If you have psychosis, you might want to check this out, though it might be a bit triggering for self-injurers as there are some descriptions of how she cut herself.



4. When I told my mom I was having horrible nightmares and hearing and seeing things a little over 3 years ago, she was horrified, but moreso, she wanted to help me. Countless pill bottles and 4 diagnosises later, I stumbled across this book. The tall-lettered title caught my eye, but when I read the subtitle, it made me grin. My problems were no longer taboo. It's ok to write and publish a book about psychosis and have it out in plain sight in Borders.
   
   I bought it immediately and my mother and I read it together. It helped us both understand a little better on a more human level what it is I'm dealing with and the struggles that go with that.

5 comments about Genuine Reality: A Life of William James.

1. I enjoyed this book quite a bit. However, there are a few reasons why I didn't give it five stars:
   
   1) The writing is decent, but not nearly so good that I actually enjoyed the writing itself as distinct from the content.
   
   2) Simon seems very sure of herself when discussing the motivations of Henry James Sr., especially. I got the sense that Henry Sr., at least, could have been treated with a bit more nuance and charity. For comparison, I've only read Louis Menand's "The Metaphysical Club", so I can't speak with any authority, but it just seemed that Simon didn't like Henry Sr., whereas she did like William, so Henry Sr. didn't get the benefit of any doubt, whereas William did. (Henry Sr. figures largely in the beginning of the book)
   
   3) I wish Simon had done a bit more to actually present James' philosophical views. I got a good picture of James as a person, but only a very vague one of him as a thinker. Genuine Reality is a biography, of course, and not a philosophical or psychological text, but given James' identity as a philosopher/psychologist, even a very large amount of philosophical explication would have been warranted.



2. Very nicely done biography, Simon seems to be a meticulous, sympathetic critic of her subjects. While I enjoyed reading about this legendary figure in American philosophy and psychology, I ended up being less impressed by him than before. Such disenchantment is probably the hallmark of reading a good biography, as it necessarily brings the mighty down to fallible human dimensions. I had always wondered what it was about the James household that produced such a noteworthy novelist and such a thoughtful philosopher--it turns out that inept dysfunction is the source of this family genius. Their father, at least through Simons's interpretation, seems a very unlikable figure--a passive-aggressive tyrant who would constantly move his family from place to place rather than have them come to develop roots and mentors beyond his control. Sadly, this tactic generated in his family a doubt of self that could lead to such insights as those his two most prominent boys seemed to understand in all its nuances. While we may appreciate their hard-won insights, it doesn't seem any fun to have suffered through them as each of his children did for all their lives. The book provides a complex look at a figure who for all his knowledge remained an embattled, unsatisfied self-critic--like all the best thinkers, I suppose.



3. The truly great men in early American history, in my humble opinion, are as follows:

   Thomas Jefferson
   Ralph Waldo Emerson
   Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain)
   William James

   Because of their intense individualism, idealistic views, and unique personalities, their writings, thoughts and ideas continue to affect western civilzation into the 21st century. Let me just say at the start - I'm not proposing a forum for argument, debating the worth and influence of one historical figure against another - these are men who have shaped my life in lasting ways - particularly the psychologist, philosopher and teacher, William James.

   If you are interested in the works and life of this noble individual, ~Genuine Reality~ is a good place to begin. Linda Simon is an adept biographer and this book reflects her skill, understanding and love for the subject. It was refreshing to read a biography without the once fashionable 'psychoanalytical method' of interpreting history: inserting the Oedipus complex or hints of homoeroticism into the work. This method gets tedious and more reveals the biographer's mind than the subject. It is obvious that Simon wanted to approach James from a pragmatic perspective and she succeeded in showing James' life, warts and all, more specifically, however, his inspiring personality, compulsive curiosity and genuine love of life.

   Similar to most people of genius, James' life was indeed a contradiction, at times almost enigmatic. He realized early on, that to rivet one's thought or perspective to a single dogma, to close one's mind to the infinite possibilities of existence, was to commit intellectual and spiritual suicide. Thus his thoughts are mercurial, bouncing from one possible view to another, always searching, investigating with an incessant vigour of a child. Following the works of Heraclitus, Henri Bergson, and aspects of Fredric Nietzche, James' 'Pluralism' is a philosophy of affirmation, transformation and becoming. Rallying against the Platonic and Aristotelian belief that fixity has more worth than change, he proposed that life or existence is not fixed at all but involved in an on-going state of flux: the operating word is change. And his life certainly reflects this perspective, as Simon writes:

   "He was a scientist with a disposition of a philosopher and a philosopher with the perspective of an artist. He was convinced of his own essential complexity: certain that his public personality contradicted a hidden, more authentic self. He championed the new, he hungered for astonishment."

   At the core of James' view of life is to maintain a continual openness to our existence: attempt to create a kind of vital joy to life's infinite possibilities. In other terms, do not sit back and merely observe, but get your hands dirty, engage, and life will give back to you many fold.

   ~Genuine Reality~ is an important contribution to American history. Linda Simon is a genuine biographer with transparent humility, more concerned with presenting her subject as it is, rather than trying to show off her knowledge, wit and writing skills. All too often, biographer's egos get in the way: they become so involved in revealing their intellectual capacity, the subject of the biography falls by the wayside. Not so with this text.

   This book is an intimate portrayal of a great man's life: his interesting and unusual family, his work and relationships, and his sometimes-underrated contribution to philosophy. Out of all of James' writings, there is a line that showed me, in essence, the true character of the man:

   "Just for today I will exercise my soul in three ways: I will do somebody a good turn and Not be found out. I will do two things I Don't want to do."

   This biography is recommended without reservation.




4. He was born before the Civil War, but Linda Simon's accurate yet occasionally grinding biography `Genuine Reality` depicts William James (1842-1910) as a decidedly contemporary thinker. A pioneering psychologist and unorthodox philosopher, he rejected rigid systems in favor of a flexible, relativist approach that stressed the fluid nature of identity and physical reality. His students at Harvard found this a gas, as did James himself. (He was always showing off to somebody his whole life, apparently greatly concerned that he be popular with this peers, whoever they happened to be.) One of the book's many virtues is Simon's sensitive analysis of how his ideas rescued him from years of spiritual confusion and the smothering embrace of a neurotic family. One of the books vices is her unnecessary GRE-like drills of vocabulary. Interestingly enough, these start appearing in the middle of the book, as if her editor said "cool it, so your readers won't drop the book due to your unnecessary pretentiousness." Anyway, this is still a very well researched bio. of W.J., giving particular attention to his family life.



5. I pride myself on being a William James buff and this biography by Linda Simon has proven to be the best, most accurate portrayal ever written. If you don't believe my review, take a look at the excellent review of the book by the New York Times. I hightly recommend this book to all those who have enjoyed Linda Simon's previous biographies, and to all those who agree William James is a man worth remembering.

No comments about Buried Cities, Forgotten Gods: William Niven's Life of Discovery and Revolution in Mexico and the American Southwest.

2 comments about Welcome to Lizard Motel: Children, Stories, and the Mystery of Making Things Up.

1. As a genuine antique mom, grandmom, teacher, and writer for children, I am one picky reader. Feinberg's book is outstanding. Outstanding on every page, for every thoughtful adult who realizes that our children are our future. We need to be exceedingly careful what we are "doing to them," to use scare quotes. I don't use them lightly. We should be very scared about many books being touted for young people. Why do so many-- especially the big medallion winners--feature death, divorce, child abuse, and the Holocaust? Why are so many characters seemingly alone in a terrifying position? Feinberg wonders, and so do I.
   When is it mandatory for the REAL world to trample upon childhood? Age 6, or maybe 8? Should we have ripped off our optimistic, rose-colored glasses by age 9 and expect every strange man to rape us? To what purpose? I cry.
   I expect that life will show us all sorrows aplenty, and I'd prefer to have young readers well grounded in hope, positive truths, and the knowledge that MOST adults are there to protect them, not betray them. For ages I have found the "problem novels" offered to mid-grade and young adult readers to be major problems themselves. They have efficiently robbed many of our readers of all joy in reading. Assigned reading is universally dreaded.
   As you can tell, I am passionate about this topic, and grateful to Barbara Feinberg for tackling it so eloquently. If you are a parent, read the books your kids are reading. If you are a teacher or a librarian, watch out for me, because when we meet I will ask you to defend what you are teaching.
   Joan Carris, [...]



2. What a remarkable book, one with a fresh perspective toward the young adult novels that are assigned in middle school English classes. Barbara Feinberg's central question is, when and why did books for preteens get so grim? In an extended essay mixed with personal reflection, Feinberg examines the YA "problem novel," the books that more or less began with Paul Zindel's "The Pigman" and which some librarians call "Doom and Gloom" books. The "child" protagonists in these novels face abuse, abandonment, incest, trauma, loss, and lots of death, as if the child needs to suffer and someone needs to die to make the child grow up, accept reality, and be a resilient, self-reliant survivor. In the meantime, most adults in these books are useless for helping the kids to cope, and imagination and play are completely sacrificed, as the kids in these books are expected to grow out of such hindrances.
   
   As the founder of a long-running children's program in New York called Story Shop, Feinberg knows and talks to real children and gives them places for play and imagination. In the book she also writes extensively about her children, 12-year-old Alex (the victim of this dismal school summer reading) and Clair, age 7. This gal knows and loves kids, and her book is an impassioned defense of childhood from an adult who has worked through her own issues.
   
   I heard a sermon several years ago by the Rev. Mary Harrington, a Unitarian Universalist minister and mother at the time of similar-aged children to Feinberg's, talking about environmental education programs for young children. In standard environmental education programs, children were given the message that the world was going to hell in a handbasket and they needed to save it. Interestingly, these children did NOT grow up into environmentalist adults. Instead, they became environmentally apathetic adults. The children who became environmentalists as adults were taken into nature and allowed to enjoy it, look at bugs, take hikes, NOT scared to death and given adult responsibilities to shoulder. As Rev. Harrington pointed out, children can't even make their parents recycle, much less can they save the world, and it is our duty as adults to take those actions, not foist it onto vulnerable, helpless children.
   
   Feinberg makes a similar point about the spate of young adult problem novels currently on schools' required reading lists. By and large, 12-year-olds hate them when they are required to read and analyze them in school. These books -- the same books they could love if they found them on their own at age 15 -- are depressing and demoralizing. Who are they trying to teach with these fake "child" narrators, who have an adult perspective in the guise of a child? Is it the adult's "inner child," a wish to protect our lost child selves by giving our own "past" selves a context for the suffering of life, and also trying to toughen ourselves by toughening up the kids? If so, do the books they are required to read help the actual children, right now, or are they taking childhood away to reassure overwhelmed adults? I remember hating "The Red Pony" in 8th grade. They assigned this Steinbeck novel because it has a young protagonist and the pony dies. So it wasn't until years later that I tried Steinbeck again and was surprised to find that it wasn't all just Faulknerian trauma; why didn't they give us the fun Steinbeck novels to read, like "Cannery Row"?
   
   Feinberg's sacred cows include the whole list of Newbery winners. I work in an independent bookstore, and when a 12-year-old comes in asking for a good book, I would never recommend "Bridge to Terabithia," although author Katherine Paterson writes so beautifully; the book is just too stark and depressing, with a bleak and devastating surprise ending that gives only one chapter for resolution.
   
   The writing in "Lizard Motel" is lovely as well. Memoir is certainly more popular right now than educational theory for preteen readers, so I understand why she wrote the book this way. Teachers, librarians, booksellers, YA authors and readers, and parents should all consider Feinberg's perspective. Memoir writers can also take inspiration from her skillful weaving of personal history and essay.
   
   I'm rather sorry I've given 5-star book reviews so often, because when a book like this comes along, one wants to put in extra-credit stars!