5 comments about Albert Schweitzer: A Biography (The Albert Schweitzer Library).

1. Brabazon thoroughly researched Dr. Schweitzer through reading his personal and professional writings as well as talking to a remarkable number of people who knew him. The result is a book that goes far in providing an understanding of a remarkable personality and a marvelous soul.



2. Any biographer attempting to write a life of Albert Schweitzer is facing a herculean task. One must be knowledgeable in widely disparate areas of endeavor: medicine, theology, philosophy, and music. Moreoever, one has to wade through mountains of letter correspondence, books, and articles written by and about Albert Schweitzer, not to mention a willingness to research his family and geographical background. Finally, travel to the places Schweitzer lived and interviews with those who knew him take time and effort to properly digest. James Brabazon has done a magnificent job in combining all these variables into a first rate biography of an amazing man. Not only that, he has fairly evaluated the man and his ideas in light of both the praise and censure Schweitzer received. Moreover, except in a few places where technical writing was necessary, the book seldom drags and makes for good reading, the kind that keeps one interested and wanting more, even when it's time for bed.
   
   Brabazon is clearly won over by Schweitzer's life and ideas, a true disciple. The positive side of this is that he is able to explain (and sometimes defend) Schweitzer's ideas and actions in a convincing fashion. Unlike many who criticized Schweitzer based on cursory observations, Brabazon's thoroughness and enthusiasm allow him to select various passages from letters or works to show Schweitzer's attitudes and philosophies with lucidity. The down side of this (and the reason this book gets four stars instead of five) is that Brabazon shares the same blind spots Schweitzer did, especially with respect to his dubious theology. Schweitzer simply assumed (without hard data or proof) many of his doubts about the veracity of the New Testament; from these assumptions, he built up a very elaborate system of belief that when it comes right down to it is not Christianity but rather ideas that decades later would come to be labeled as New Age. Brabazon seems to think that Schweitzer's work is "objective" and that the reason for much of its unpopularity had to do with its upsetting the status quo as well as local historical factors (such as suspicion of anything German with the advent of World War I). He never openly entertains the idea that many people just plain 'ole don't find Schweitzer's arguments convincing. Nor does he seem to see that if Schweitzer's hubristic assumptions turn out to be wrong - namely, that the New Testament IS historically reliable, that the miracles did occur, that the resurrection did occur, that Jesus did think he was the messiah, that Jesus did not die for an illusion, et. al. - his ENTIRE theological system collapses like a house of cards. (Reader's interested in an alternative to the "if miraculous, then unhistorical" bias against biblical passages may consult C.S. Lewis's essay "Modern Theology and Biblical Criticism" in the book "Christian Reflections".)
   
   Brabazon manages to give a fairly even account of Schweitzer for almost the entire book. Unfortunately, in his epilogue, the hagiography he had been at some pains to avoid comes gushing in as he sums up Schweitzer's life with melodramatic hyperbole, e.g., "He was normal, in fact, to an abnormal degree. He was superhumanly human. He was excessively balanced." (Abnormally normal? Superhumanly human? Balanced..excessively??)
   
   Still, taking it all in all, this was a very, very good biography, thoroughly researched, well written, and for the most part fair. He successfully tells the STORY of Schweitzer's life and gives a good idea of what life was like for him as a youth, student, pastor, musician, and physician working under physically demanding circumstances in Gabon, Africa. The second edition is valuable for the additional light thrown on Schweitzer's marriage with Hélène and his valuable role in helping to sway public opinion to bring to light the problems of nuclear testing, eventually resulting in the Test Ban Treaty in August of 1963. If one can manage to take the theology presented in it with a very large grain of salt, one can agree with what Conor Cruise O'Brien wrote: "This biography is, I think, unlikely to be superseded."



3. This second edition of Brabazon's incredible biography contains new material regarding the relationship between Schweitzer and his wife, Helene, due to the discovery of numerous letters between them. The author also adds material in the later chapters, focusing on the antagonism that erupted between the United States government and the old doctor, as Schweitzer and other activists, such as Albert Einstein and philosopher, Bertrand Russell, exposed to the public at large the fall-out hazards of the hydrogen bomb testing that the government wanted to keep secret, as the Cold War was then in full swing. This new material is rich in insight, revealing that Albert Schweitzer the myth, the modern saint, "The Greatest Man in the World", was indeed human, and whose long and arduous work in West Africa, paved the way, or at least set an example for present day and future humanitarians.
   
   What is most striking about this man was his incredible capacity for work. He held Doctorates in three major subjects - theology, philosophy and medicine and was an accomplished organist and world expert on Bach. Schweitzer's published works in theology, philosophy and music remain in circulation, which continue to shed light in these areas. His "Reverence for Life" philosophy on the surface, appears almost too simplistic, but on closer examination, is a worldview that encompasses an attitude of mind, that if practiced, could radically change the world for the better. Schweitzer was not a philosopher of the abstract variety, at home in an ivory tower creating complex theories that only a select few would understand. As the man said and wrote many times, "he lived his argument" and his accomplishments certainly prove this.
   
   Brabazon's biography of this great man is thorough. He delightfully brings together Schweitzer's letters, books, articles, and interviews with friends, colleagues and family, including sermons from his early career as a young minister, that tells us that his love of Jesus and the foundations of his philosophy was already set in his mind and spirit, well before embarking into his long and productive life. Brabazon brings Schweitzer to life in these pages as only a great biographer wholly connected to their subject can do. It is extremely well written and engaging.
   
   If you are only slightly interested in one of the great humanitarians of the twentieth century, an intellectual, a man of God, Samaritan, healer and example of goodness, read this engrossing biography - a labor of love and inspiring in every sense.



4. Albert Schweitzer was at first ignored, then recognized and finally lionized by the world at large, though he preferred to remain at his clinic, or as he put it, "a prisoner of Lambarene." Those of us who have followed his life in serious fashion have often wondered about the exact role of his wife and soul mate, Helene, and now, thanks to James Brabazon, we know. This revised and newly edited biography is at once spell binding and searching as it delves into their relationship as well as Albert's battle with church doctrine and the powers that be. As a former seminarian, now preparing to take a one man AV show about Albert on the road ("Scenes from A Life,") I can assure prospective readers that the book will not disappoint them. If you want to meet the real Schweitzer, warts and all, this is the place to have such an encounter. It will both stun and shock, delight and dismay, but it casts a bright light upon the life of this remarkable man, arguably the quintessential heroic figure of the 20th century. Enjoy!



5. Syracuse University Press is publishing a revised edition of this book in the Fall of 2000. The new edition will be greatly expanded, making use of newly discovered correspondence covering the ten-year secret relationship between Albert Schweitzer and Helene Bresslau, the woman he was to marry. To Helene alone he revealed every corner of his mind, and heart, spilling the thoughts and feelings that he kept carefully hidden from everyone else who knew him. Here are the struggles of a genius in the making - and also an intensely passionate and quite extraordinary relationship, in which Helene emerges as a rare woman and a worthy partner.

   These "love letters" (long thought to be lost but found in an old suitcase by Schweitzer's daughter) have been translated by Antje Lemke, Symposium Advisory Board member and Schweitzer scholar, and will be published in a complete book by Syracuse University Press. Brabazon said, "I have had the privilege of reading these letters and can assure you that they make fascinating reading."

   Also new to the general public Brabazon's new edition will give the amazing account of the deep suspicion of the U.S. State Department towards Schweitzer, due to his strong opposition to the hydrogen bomb tests and his refusal to be silenced about the genetic hazards of nuclear explosions.

   Lawrence Wittner, State University of New York, and Symposium Advisory Board Member, wrote an article, "Blacklisting Schweitzer," in the May-June,1995, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists where he told for the first time, thanks to the then-recent declassification of key government documents, the dimensions of a bitter conflict between Dr. Schweitzer and the U.S. Government. As Professor Wittner wrote, "To millions, Albert Schweitzer was a saint. But to the Eisenhower crew, he was a dangerous nuisance."

   Brabazon will be a guest speaker and sign books on Friday, October 13, at the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville, Tennessee.

5 comments about My Soul Said to Me: An Unlikely Journey Behind the Walls of Justice.

1. I recently had the privilege to attended a workshop with Robert. The experience left me with a desire to know more about him and his work. I purchased his book and could not put it down. Robert's personal journey to follow his calling and heartfelt relationships are inspiring. This book allowed me to look deep inside myself, explore my biases and feelings about humanity in general. This book is a must read and will change the way you view our prison system.



2. When I first participated in one of Bob's community building workshops I left wondering what potential the process held in other situations. It all makes sense after reading this book. A simple idea -- be vulnerable and take ownership of your opinions and your past, don't judge, listen intensely, and don't be afraid to grieve for your past failures, sufferings and pain ... and those of others. This process has changed the lives of so many individuals that the rest of society has given up on too easily. You won't look at innmates and former convicts the same. You hopefully won't look at yourself the same either. Read it and it will open your eyes and heart. Thank you Bob!



3. I found this book by accident when i was searching for more infos about life in Americas prisons. I got this book with the intention to read sometimes a few pages because my time is very limited . it turned out that I had to run to work for to be not too late because always when I spent my time with this book I forgot everything else around me.
   That's just how interesting this book is. Fascinating to me was the fact that with each page I read, I found my own thoughts or a proof of the things I already knew .
   I spent the last 6 years with communicating with prisoners in America. Often it is hard to believe what's going on in these places. Some people may find it hard to believe what Mr Roberts has to tell within this book but I can assure everybody that everything you read is true and based on real life .
   Mr Roberts changed his whole life for to bring some changes to a few people .I hope everyone who reads this book gets an idea of how serious the criminal and justice problem in America really is and starts to help to make a change
   PS: For everyone from Germany , you can order the book by amazon.de.



4. Heartbreaking in its simplicity and insight, Dr. Robert's journey is one every tax-paying American should take. From his personal committment, establishment of Project Return which pushed his career in radically different directions, to his work with indiginous populations, Dr Roberts casts himself as very much the student. This is a position very few 'civilians' have experienced. I know. I'm just finishing my 30th year in law enforcement.. This is must reading for professionals and citizens alike. You will finish this book as a changed person.



5. A moving account of one man's search for a path to truth, a path by the following of which society as a whole can benefit. While this book is subtitled: An Unlikely Journey Behind the Walls of Justice, it is so much wider in its applicability than to the insitutions wherein it was born. In his exploration of 'community building', Mr. Roberts has written a remarkable prescription for society as a whole to adopt and apply to heal the profound wounds caused by the segregation of its members into disparate islands of fear, hurt, and hate. As for the application of this process to both the incarcerated and returned prison population itself, truly remarkable results have resulted from so doing. Mr. Roberts has addressed a core concern: "Without proper support, however, transformation is a long hard road. Because most of (the incarerated) are unprepared, most of them fail [become recidivists upon being paroled or pardoned]." Robert's combination of community building and techniques developed from his insights into the human social condition garnered while studying prisoners directly should be seriously examined by all states concernd with reformation of those who offend its rules. The results from so doing offer a path to real freedom, the transformation of a person rather than the brutalizing perpetuation of antisocial behavior consequent from incarceration as it is currently administered. Finally, this is a remarkable and inspiring read.

3 comments about Joseph Campbell: A Fire in the Mind.

1. The fire in Joseph Campbell's mind burned through the dross of a mundane existence and forged a character who was ultimately "transparent to transcendence" (his own remarkable phrase).

   The book is dense at times because of the Larsens' careful documentation and because Campbell's very life was so dense with accomplishment and discovery. I found the Larsens' scholarship to be impeccable and the coverage of a remarkable life thorough. Because they were friends of the Campbells, an air of authenticiy is added to their work. My only disappointment was their lack of reporting of his deeper response to his illness and impending death. I feel more information in this delicate area would have been appropriate because of the biographical nature of the work and because of Campbell's own personal spiritual belief system.

   I highly recommend this volume to anyone who wishes to learn more about one of the most formidable intellectuals of the 20th century. Because the book is so well-written, entertaining, and well-documented, it will enliven the days of your reading...and well beyond!




2. Since Joseph Campell was such a prolific writer of journals, letters, essays and books, this book was able to capture, in such detail, not only his life events but also the evolution of his studies and thoughts about myth, art, religion and the world. I originally checked this book out at the library but I am buying it as a reference guide because it touches on so many fascinating points about religion and the most prominent spiritual leaders in the last century.



3. After viewing his lectures on video and watching the interviews with Bill Moyers I became increasing curious about Joseph Campbell, the man, not just the scholar and how one could devote his life to his work.

   This authorized biography does not disappoint. It is a wealth of information from personal journals, letters, interviews with friends and family, most generously provided by his widow, Jean Erdman Campbell.

   Yes, it is a lengthy tome since it is chronicaling the life and works of one of this centuries most prolific writers and original thinkers, well worth the time it's taken to read it.

   Joseph Campbell, the eldest of three, had progressive parents who recognized their childrens natural talents and provided the best education to ameliorate their gifts. As I read, I was impressed how from a young age, Joseph Campbell viewed his world and continued to pursue answers to questions, and in turn, enlighten others through his lectures and writings.

   His relationship with friends, colleagues, mentors and his wife is tightly woven into this biography, he was grateful for all the support he received from his "fans." I was constantly surprised with whom he met along his life's path, John Steinbeck, Carl G. Jung to name a few.

   I am now embarking on reading Jung, influenced by Joseph Campbells admiration of his works and contributions to the study of the psyche. Hoping to open a new way of thinking myself.

2 comments about The Scent of Eucalyptus: A Missionary Childhood in Ethiopia.

1. This thoughtful and beautifully written memoir by the son of SIM missionaries is much more than an autobiography, for it delves into the complexities of identity and self-understanding that are so much a part of the experience of many missionary children. After growing up in a small village and becoming fluent in Oromifa and Amharic, Daniel makes the transition involved in attending the mission boarding school in the capital city where his primary peers are now MKs like himself. During the tumultuous years of political upheaval following the overthrow of Haile Selassie in 1974, the rising hostility toward foreigners is directed on a number of occasions to Coleman and his pink skinned friends. The discovery that he will always be a "ferinjie," or foreigner, in the land of his birth is a shattering one that makes him determined to forge a new identity and to forsake his past when he returns to Canada at the age of seventeen. From that point on he tells people he is from "Wheatley, Ontario," his Dad's home town. The book begins when Coleman returns to the land of his birth after an absence of fourteen years. Now, as an academic, he reflects on how his identity, faith and outlook on cultures have been shaped by the formative experiences of his African past.

   The eucalyptus symbolizes for Coleman the complex interplay of cultures. This tree, native to Australia, was transplanted to Ethiopia as a quick-growing source of firewood and building materials. Though a foreign specimen, it thrived and replaced much of the native vegetation. Like the eucalyptus, missionaries seek to flourish by negotiating between the culture they bring with them and the culture to which they have come. Coleman has an appreciation for the many facets of this interplay and is critical of some of the stereotypes of missionaries perpetuated by media and social scientists. His final chapter, "Babies in the Colonial Washtub" is a brilliant exploration of this complexity.

   Coleman allows his readers to enter into his own struggle to affirm the same certainties about God that he imbibed from his family during his formative years. While not afraid to voice his doubts, he maintains a genuine admiration for his parents' and his Ethiopian friends' faith, sacrifice and commitment to their task.

   This book is a delight to read. The author's masterful use of the English language applied to a subject that evokes deep emotion is engaging from the first page onward. Readers who are particularly interested in issues relating to the well-being of missionary children will find this extended case self-study to be very insightful.




2. If you were born in Africa of foreign parents or spent most of your childhood years in Africa, you owe it to yourself to read these two books. Whether your experiences were positive and you have returned to Africa as an adult, or whether you need catharsis from emotional wounds Africa is so adept at administering, these authors will provide contrasting mirrors in which to search for your reflection.

   The Zanzibar Chest describes a Reuters war correspondent's life-experiences (mostly Africa), including the meandering description of a colonial officer's death, as described in a diary left to Hartley in his deceased father's carved Zanzibar chest. The Scent of Eucalyptus uses the foreign gum tree, widely planted in Africa, to symbolize a missionary child's nostalgic return, as an adult, to Ethiopia; the last part of the book is spent attempting to debunk the widespread academic view that missionaries were inept, short-sighted religious fanatics that spread cultural disarray in Africa and like places. Both books have much insight to offer those who would understand the world-views of Europeans raised in an African setting and who then spend a lifetime striving to amalgamate the various cultures that make up their characters.

   Given the first person singular that dominates these non-fiction efforts, a certain amount of narcissism is to be expected. Both books suffer from a lack of focus, since neither have a readily discernable central plot. They jump between present and past, between what the authors perceive is their African story and the story of others around them. Anyone who has suffered culture shock or it's lifelong after-tremors can relate to this sense of what I call "socio-cultural netherness". The experiences these authors relate explore the trauma of self-imposed (in Hartley's case) or childhood (Coleman) African experiences that flash back uninvited for all of us Africans of foreign blood, long after they are relegated to suppressed memory. Sitting at my desk I can relive a decades-old Angolan war scene in crimson detail yet forget what was said at my last annual job evaluation. This lack of plot in both books, therefore, is understandable to me personally but makes categorization of these books difficult.

   Having read these two books at the same time, I was struck by the contrast in world views from authors with fairly similar childhood backgrounds. Both were born and raised in Africa, fluently spoke, at one time, at least one African language, while growing up in strongly colonial (or neo-colonial) family settings. The privileged backgrounds of private schools and relative wealth contrast with the stress of social and emotional disconnect with everyone (including non-African raised parents) except those similarly lost.

   Both authors portray, in unusually gentle terms, their parents' failure to change Africa. Coleman's missionary family's calling to evangelize Ethiopia's ancient Christianity is portrayed as sincere by an author who himself appears to have rejected their brand of theism. He even goes to great lengths to deflect the cultural imperialism his academic colleagues in Canada attribute to the entire missionary effort of the past few centuries.

   Hartley, by contrast, minces no words describing his parents' failure to protect Africa from itself, first as British colonial servants and then as post-colonial development workers in the service of "do-gooder" foreign organizations. But, for a war correspondent, his writing is almost sympathetic as he describes his father's failure as agriculturalist, husband and parent, contrasting these with physical and social sacrifices in remote regions that eventually lead the elder Hartley to "go native" by starting an ultimately failed parallel African family. Both the newly arrived Canadian missionaries and the long-established British expatriates are well-intentioned Europeans who, if they change Africa, do so in completely unintended ways. Africa, it is clear, changes those who come to change it.

   There the similarities end, however. Although Hartley is no saint, unapologetically describing his debaucheries while constantly living on the edge in Africa's hellholes, he appears more attuned to his own immortality than Coleman. During several occasions in which Hartley assumed his life was prematurely ended by violence, accident or disease, he finds comfort in the spiritual realm. He also searches for humanity buried in the inhumanity surrounding a war correspondent. Coleman, living the quiet, sheltered life common to most Westerners of the northern hemisphere, hints at agnosticism that does not require religion to get him through the drudgery of a predictable day-to-day.

   Coleman describes his surprisingly detailed African experience through the rose-tint of a returning, long-absent son. His rejection of an absorbed (if not genetic) Africaness, as implied by never having returned to live there as an adult, leads him to choose the sedentary, colorless life of a Canadian academic. No surprise, then, that he describes his childhood experiences and defends his missionary roots with seemingly little understanding of the broader impact his culture, his nation, and his family have had (intentionally or not) on Africa. Yet one can tell from his ramblings, inspired by a short visit to his childhood haunts, that Africa has never quite left him.

   In violent contrast, Hartley over-loads his writing with realism that describes, in mind-numbing detail, the atrocities Africans commit on each other as the world feigns disinterest while simultaneously devouring Hartley's gristly Reuters reports. Ethiopian, Rwandan, or Mozambican post-colonial traumas spill out in maggot-infested, visceral stench. If your African experience ended twenty years ago with picturesque village scenes and verdant boarding school rugby pitches, Coleman will help you catch up on what you have missed in the mean time. It may even temporarily cure your chronic nostalgia.

   These two books are worth the read, if for different reasons. Coleman's quiet childhood memories of an Africa that, even then, was crumbling, remind us of what we often forget from our own childhood. Hartley slams us back to earth, reminding us that Africa is far from the simplistic, idyllic land of our youth. Both versions are correct, both versions worth reliving.

4 comments about Weaving a Way Home: A Personal Journey Exploring Place and Story.

1. This brief book is a deep, thoughtful look at the role of place in our lives. Leslie Van Gelder takes this simple idea and explores it from a multitude of angles. Part biography, part social science, part psychoanalysis and part revelations of the heart, this book touches on the meanings we give, and are given by our physical environment.
   
   This all may sound rather esoteric- rather like a self-help book or something you find on the metaphysics shelf at the local bookstore, but, in reality it is a careful philosophical analysis of the meaning of things such as wilderness, home, and ruins. To add heart to the philosophical discussion, which otherwise might seem rather academic, Van Gelder pours out her own experiences of loss, fear, comfort and bemusement. She also relates tales of her childhood experiences with her father in Africa and the mental illness and death of her mother.
   
   Gelder's concept of wilderness, as a place where we are completely detached from our civilized selves, uncomfortable and afraid, is fascinating. The wild, by way of contrast, is a place we have become acquainted with and enjoy. Gelder does much to dispel pastoral myths and romantic notions of "savage beauty". She generally breaks down such accepted romantic notions in favour of a more analytic, scientific approach to understanding our selves. For example, ruins are places that we can project our own ideas onto; too much knowledge or personal experience of a ruin prevents this; a recently abandoned house has little resonance, especially if we knew the owner, but a two-hundred year old house has history. She makes us aware of our tendency to project and cautions against such behaviour.
   
   While the book is neither pure philosophy nor biography, it works on a certain level. Many of the ideas are thought-provoking whether you agree with them or not. Gelder drops a lot of names - most are unknown to me - but there is an extensive bibliography at the end. It is difficult to know to whom one should recommend this book but I am sure that closet sociologists, anthropologists and the thinking woman or man will find it an intriguing read.



2. Having grown up in a military family and thus having moved about every three years for my entire childhood, I find books like this fascinating...partly as a glimpse into what experiences I might have missed out on having not grown up with a deep relationship to any given place or people and partly because I agree with the author when she says that place and our relationship to it (or lack thereof) can have a profound impact on who we are and how well we get along in life.
   
   First and foremost, Weaving a Way Home: A Personal Journey Exploring Place and Story is a personal narrative in which Gelder deftly utilizes beautifully descriptive personal reflections on place through the medium of story (storytelling). Here the author posits that the two (place and story) are, to her way of thinking, inseparable (or at least they should be). That is what really drew me in to this book...Gelder's many insights into how we (human beings) are (or can be) shaped by story and/or our sense of place and how a modern disconnection to both story and place is at the heart of a number of our current societal woes, it's a remarkable thing to accomplish in such a compact tome (coming in at 144 pages, not counting the notes and index).
   
   While Gelder doesn't offer any sort of plan or how-to guide to "fixing" what ails the world today, being that it is more of a microcosmic look at Gelder's personal little corner of the universe (how various kinds of stories drew her family closer despite her father's many absences in her childhood, how her own personal experiences with both place and story have helped to define her in childhood and beyond, etc.); much of what she writes about can be applied to the "big picture." That is to say that Gelder does expand (in places) her ideas about place and story to include what might be termed the human condition, particularly where she writes about the wild, wilderness, and wildness.
   
   Overall, I enjoyed reading Weaving a Way Home immensely and would recommend it in a heartbeat to anyone interested in the idea of exploring place and story...and how they relate to personal identity as well as where we (as individuals) fit into society and culture. I also like that this is the type of book I could read every so often and "get" something more or different out of it with each reading...books that give you little "ah ha" moments while you are reading them area always welcome in my world. I give it 4 stars, it's an interesting read and I think it would also make a great discussion group choice as there is plenty of food for thought here and loads that could be drawn out into extended discussion and debate.



3. From the opening paragraph of "Weaving a Way Home, " author Leslie Van Gelder literally draws the reader into her narrative about place and story as she describes crawling through narrow passages of ancient caves to study prehistoric cave drawings. Van Gelder weaves her own story into her informed discourse of how individuals and cultures are shaped by place and story. With an engaging writing style, Van Gelder explores such topics as wilderness, home, and ruins. The author offers no prescriptions for what ails modern society, but her many insights into how humans are shaped by their sense of place and the stories those places evoke suggest ways we may more consciously participate in our own evolution. I didn't want to put this book down. I found it thought provoking. I came away with a deeper understanding and appreciation for the power of place and story in shaping who we are as individuals and as a culture. I highly recommend taking the time to read this delightful and informative book.



4. Leslie Van Gelder's fine collection of essays opens with a description of a prehistoric cave in France and the enigmatic finger marks on the cave walls ("finger flutings") that she and her husband are studying--the stories of which are sadly lost. A few pages later, she circles back to the experience of clearing out her dead parents' home. "Why are there greasy marks on the walls?" a baffled helper asks. The explanation requires a story. In fact, every object in the house is storied, Van Gelder writes. The house itself is a landscape filled with a cacophony of stories, many brought home by her father, a mammalogist who studied African wildlife; but like the marks on the caves, the stories will be lost when the people have passed on.
   
   An archaeological educator, Van Gelder is fascinated by the interaction between person, place, and story. "We are always somewhere," she writes, "and it is through place that we are able to root our sense of story and our sense of self." Each of the seven essays in her book explores this concept from a different point of view: questions of kinship, naming, journeying, homing. She explores these landscapes through story, discovering ways in which her own tale-telling changes the unknown wilderness into a more fully known wildland, rich with relationships, and then to home. It is through this internal evolution, she says, that we learn how to become at home in the world, that we learn to see our very selves "as evolving places."
   
   Van Gelder is at her best when she is telling intensely personal stories, like her tale of her father's instruction to her (she was four years old) to reach into the grass-filled stomach of a dead, still-warm impala to get him "a part so small it required a tiny pair of fingers to fetch it." She recalls with awe how it felt to connect so deeply with a wild creature. Or her story about "New Hamsterdamn," the imaginary place that she and her brother created, complete with its own language, Doodlish, named for their obstreperous hamster, Doodles McGurk. She and her brother have a "deeper sense of our historical home through the invocation of its language," she says, illustrating the connection between stories and home places. Also appealing is her sophisticated treatment of anthropomorphism, so often shunned by scientists as a projection of the human onto a non-human world. For Van Gelder, it is a way of knowing deeply a world in which all humans and non-human beings are intimately related in a landscape rich with significance.
   
   The conceptual terrain of Van Gelder's work is complex and sometimes daunting, but the tales she has gathered from her personal journey clearly illuminate the truth of her central argument: It is through story that we find our way in the wildness of the world, and through story that we create our homes. This book makes a substantive addition to the growing literature of place, home, and story.
   
   by Susan Wittig Albert
   for Story Circle Book Reviews
   reviewing books by, for, and about women

1 comments about The Clinical Diary of Sándor Ferenczi.

1. The Hungarian analyst Ferenczi was a Freudian, a member of Freud's early circle, and a renegade of sorts. He was Freud's analysand and, relatively quickly, moved into intellectually uncharted psychological waters. He gained a reputation as a passionate, unorthodox, and even flakey analyst. This "clinical diary" charts with candor, disarming simplicity, and stunning lucidity the thought process of Ferenczi as he discusses his patients, Freud, his own interesting experiences of countertransference, and his highly original and ( especially for their time) unconventional notions regarding the psychoanalyst's rightful and appropriate levels and types of engagement with patients. He was a caring and humane doctor. The writing is complex and layered at times. A very, very worthwhile read.

1 comments about From Both Sides of the Couch: Reflections of a Psychoanalyst, Daughter Tennis Player and Other Selves.

1. I read this book in two days. Dr. Cohen's articulate and accessible account of her own journey as a patient, informed by her knowledge as a practitioner, really clarifies the difference between psychoanalysis and other forms of talk therapy. Having felt rather isolated as a layperson undergoing psychoanalytic treatment, finding a book which so adeptly describes the intensity of the process at it's most effective has been an affirming gift.

5 comments about Paul A. Samuelson: On Being an Economist.

1. 
   The forward by Stiglitz is not very astounding. It doesn't help us to recognize Samuelson as a person beyond what we know him through his numerous contributions. I have started reading the subsequent chapters and hope to have a better idea of the man..particulalry his thought process - conception, clarity of thinking though a problem and taking it to a solution...



2. I recommend that this book be purchased.It gives an above average to very good overview of the life and times of Paul Samuelson,starting from his days as an undergraduate majoring in economics at the University of Chicago.It does an admirable job in covering the importance of Samuelson's unmatched textbook,Economics,as well as the surrounding historical and political conditions and controversies that occurred during the writing of the book.However,Samuelson's consistent core position concerning the interface between macroeconomics,microeconomics and the economics of Keynes, as expressed by Keynes in the General Theory(1936),in general and,specifically, in section III of chapter 24,is not covered at all.The reader,who finishs this book,will come away without grasping exactly what it was that Samuelson took away from his reading of the GT.It certainly was not Keynes's mathematical model of chapters 19,20, and 21.Samuelson had been convinced by the misleading claims of Richard Kahn,Joan Robinson and Austin Robinson that,while Keynes's new ideas and approach were fundamentally correct,he had made a technical mess of the formal,mathematical expression and exposition of his theory.Nevertheless,Samuelson did have a very deep understanding and appreciation for Keynes's approach,if not his technique. Samuelson viewed the study of economics and macroeconomics as the study of an economy as a whole.An economy is made up of a private sector and a public sector.There are micro-theoretical underpinnings to the decision making calculus in both sectors.Both sectors are vital to realizing the goal of economic growth and prosperity at full employment,non inflationary levels of gross domestic product.Both public goods and private goods are absolutely necessary.The concept of a completely private economy,operating under conditions of laissez faire,is a myth that was completely rejected by the founding fathers of the United States of America in 1787.The standard reference is The Federalist Papers ,written by Hamilton,Madison,and Jay.The economic system,AS A WHOLE,can be made to function as if it were an ergodic system IF,AND ONLY IF, the following policies are followed.These policies will create a stable,full employment level of output.First,an activist and interventionist monetary and fiscal policy is implemented.Second,a progressive taxation system is implemented.Third, continuous government spending on investment on infrastructure projects,public goods,and public works is implemented.These three policies will counterbalance and negate the highly variable,unstable,volatile,insufficient,unpredictable private sector spending on investment in fixed ,durable capital goods(plants,factories,machinery,computer hardware and software,etc.)that occurs due to the uncertainty(D. Ellsberg's ambiguity)of the future in all capitalist economies.Fourth,money wages and prices are sticky.Sticky does not mean rigid or inflexible.Fifth,introduction of more interest,wage,and price flexibility,combined with policies 1,2 and 3,will result in attaining the goal of full employment.The expansion of government to include activist,interventionist monetary and fiscal policy,and increased public sector spending on public goods and infrastructure,necessary to counter the shortfalls in required private sector spending on investment ,will mean that"...if our central controls succeed in establishing an aggregate volume of output corresponding to full employment as nearly as is practicable,the classical theory comes into its own again from this point onwards."(Keynes,1936,p.378).Samuelson has digested this point.His detractors have not.The authors of this book only discuss the strange and incomprehensible objections made by the authors of a two volume book called the Anti-Samuelson(1977)and libertarian anarchists believers in Laissez Faire,like Murray Rothbard and Mark Skousen ,who assume that there is no difference between consumption goods and investment goods or between fixed capital and circulating capital(inventories).Supposedly,investment is a completely stable,predictable function of the long run real rate of interest only.All of the empirical evidence shows that long run investment is not a stable,predictable or nonvolatile function of the real rate of interest.Another strange critic of Samuelson,not mentioned in this book, is Paul Davidson,one of the founders of the Post Keynesian School of economics.Davidson makes the unsupportable charge that Samuelson is not a Keynesian of any type.The reader of this review will discover that Davidson never cites or mentions Keynes's analysis in section III of chapter 24 of the GT whenever he criticizes Samuelson for not being a "true" Keynesian.In fact ,nowhere in the corpus of Davidson's published work ,going back to 1960 ,has Davidson ever dealt with this section of the GT except in dismissive one liners.Finally,none of the other schools of economic thought,such as rational expectations,monetarist,austrian,supply side,or real business cycles,have a clue to the fundamental problem of capitalism.Samuelson,following Keynes,realized that it is the shortfall in investment spending that is the crucial problem in introducing involuntary unemployment into a capitalist economy.Samuelson said it best:"When it comes to investment,the laissez faire system has no good thermostat".No good thermostat means that such an economic system is not self regulating or correcting.The Laissez Faire approach does not lead to full employment unless "we're lucky" .No economist has ever demonstrated theoretically or empirically that the laissez faire system has a good thermostat.



3. This is an engaging and readable encomium to Samuelson, a selective history of economic theory and an introduction to economics. Quite an accomplishment in 160 pages!
   I particularly enjoyed its informal conversational style and use of personal anecdotes. These really brought the reader to feel privy to important people and events. The text also successfully conveyed the Stiglitz' love of Samuelson - his excellence as a human being, over and above his accomplishments as a theoretician.
   Chapters 2 and 3 were quite informative to me, successful introductions to key aspects of the science of economics. In just a couple of pages Stiglitz succeeds in conveying the changes from feudalism to mercantilism to free market in a way which showed why a new understanding of economics was needed. He then goes on to show shortcomings in classical theory which called for Samuelson's contributions. The author's presentation of Samuelson's incorporation of mathematical modeling in economics and the revolution that brought was also clear and interesting.
   The sections at the end of each chapter "Additional Notes and Sources" are
   very helpful to this reader who is not a professional in economics.



4. Paul A. Samuelson: "On Being an Economist" offers the ability for a reader to embark on the life chronicles of PAS with bifocals; a broad view is offered of the influences contributing to Samuelson's master of prose, wit and thrilling ability to connect with an audience while powerfully maintaining focus on the extraordinaire responsible for the revitalization of economics as a discipline. The work projects a well supported analytical approach to the achievements of PAS while successfully encrypted with celebratory views of a legendary career. Furthermore, the narrative's current personifies a conversation with a broad audience of sophisticated, yet non-economist spectators fruitfully ignited by the importance of economic deliberation throughout the 20th Century. Without doubt, this work is a tribute to Samuelson; Praise is offered through an anthological retelling of education, achievement and tribulations ultimately filtering through to the doctrinaire contributing immensely to the study of economics. However, without avail, the style holds constant the ability to flicker economic theory and undoubted utile function in a comprehensible fashion avoiding the typical stray to technical and mathematical models for evidentiary purposes. The meat of the storyline is functionally outlined through Chapters 2 through 4 carrying the reader from Samuelson's philosophy, extrapolating the "mathematical language" of his methodology, and through to the kaleidoscope of Samuelson's celebrity (presenting both praise and criticism). A well captured account of the history behind the history made by Paul A. Samuelson.



5. Paul Samuelson has personified mainstream economics and is undeniably a great economist. In the book Paul A. Samuelson: On Being an Economist, I find very relevant parallels between his theories in microeconomics and the financial industry today. For someone like me who holds an advanced degree in Economics and then having branched out to a MBA in Finance and now working in the hedge fund industry, Samuelson's works have been a constant factor all through my educational and professional life. This book is a magnificent tribute to his contribution in the field. To have a book dedicated to the guru of Economics and authored by Joseph Stiglitz another leading authority in Economics, is a very rare and dynamic combination. I would recommend this book to all professionals in Wall Street today who deal with finance & economics as well as to individuals who have an interest in the field to expand their horizons. Once again... A MUST READ!

No comments about Memoirs of a Middle School Counselor.

3 comments about The Art of Therapeutic Communication: The Collected Works of Kay Thompson.

1. Kay Thompson was one of the great hypnotherapists of the 20th century and one of Milton H. Erickson's most gifted protégés. She was a trainer of international renown and a brilliant hypnotherapist whose artistry with language patterns amazed her pupils and colleagues. The Art of Therapeutic Communication chronicles her professional life through her papers and presentations, transcripts of seminars, commentary on her life and work, and tributes by contemporaries. The CD that accompanies the book records ten of Thompson's "live" presentations. Thompson's collected works cover hypnosis, hypnotic language patterns, trance, pain management, hypnosis in dentistry, metaphor, utilization, and ethics.
   
   Thompson began her career as a dentist, and studied under Dr. Milton H. Erickson in 1953. She went on to become an internationally recognized speaker and trainer in medical hypnotherapy. She participated in the Erickson Foundation as a lecturer, workshop leader, and panel member. Colleagues admired her linguistic skills, integrity, ethics, and spirituality. She spoke and taught on the power of imagination, motivation, and belief as essential elements in the practice of psychotherapy.
   
   Her unusual style of delivering suggestions became her trademark. Her "word play" was engaging, trance-inducing, and confusing all at the same time, yet somehow always to the point, speaking to the mind via several levels of meaning. She employed puns, double-entendres, rhyme, and alliteration in spell-binding ways.
   
   Thompson advised using the client's own interests and common, every-day occurrences as metaphors for suggestions about problem-solving and personal growth. She debunked the common expectation that hypnosis requires relaxation, suggesting that hypnotherapists give clients the latitude to experience trance idiosyncratically. Thompson reminded her audiences to see the client's point of view and guide the client to tap into his or her own potential.
   
   The text features methods and demonstrations for pain management, describing how she helped clients prepare for surgery by teaching them to control anxiety, pain, and even bleeding. Thompson spoke on how hypnotic pain management can help cancer patients and the terminally ill. She described her own experiences in pain control during rhinoplasty, dermabrasion,root canals, and an auto accident in which she had broken bones.
   
   You can read her discussions on amnesia, time distortion and post-hypnotic suggestion. There are several papers on hypnosis in dentistry, in which Thompson explains the relationships among psychology, hypnotherapy and dentistry. She was an expert in approaches to bulimia, tongue thrust, gagging reflex, bruxism, hemophilia, root canals, dry sockets, and temporal mandibular jaw dysfunction.
   
   Kane and Olness poured devotion and painstaking effort into this book, locating, examining, and transcribing hours of tape-recorded interviews, panel discussions, and seminars. I enjoyed this book, consuming it like a smorgasbord of ideas. With a notebook at my side, I madly scribbled notes to myself about how I could adapt some of Thompson's methods in my own work. In my home library, I have a shelf reserved for favorite hypnotherapy books. This book will go on that shelf. I know I will turn to it again and again, seeking Thompson's advice for difficult cases. Through The Art of Therapeutic Communication, Kay Thompson continues to teach, to heal, to motivate, and to inspire.



2. This fascinating book is an inspiration, and an outstanding learning tool for therapists and those interested in hypnosis,and this extraordinarily profound woman.



3. BOOK REVIEWS
   The Art of Therapeutic Communication
   ( The collected works of Kay F Thompson)
   Edited by Saralee Kane and Karen Olness
   Publisher Crown House Publishing Ltd
   ISBN 1904424287
   This is a love story. It is a story of a love of words and a love of communicating them in a positive and healthy way. More than that it is a love of people and the story of a woman's dedication to helping all those around her for whom she felt compassion and love - her fellow men. No monument could provide a more fitting or lasting tribute to Kay Thompson than this skilfully executed and beautifully presented book
   I felt sorry for the girl who delivers my post when she came down my front path bearing the parcel which contained this book. To say that it is a hefty and weighty tome is an understatement, almost 600 pages long and with an accompanying CD.
   I too groaned under the weight of it and just wondered whether the reading would be as heavy as the book.
   I was very pleasantly surprised.
   It proved to be not only a joy but also a privilege to be allowed to explore the pages of this book. It was fascinating to have insight into the thought and work of Kay Thompson who was arguably one of the world's greatest hypnotherapists of the twentieth century. She was an intellectual, a lively brain, but also had the linguistic capability to be able to share her thoughts and ideas with a wide audience. Indeed, if she hadn't made the grade as a therapist I am sure she would have made a great novelist or communicator in other ways..
   Regular readers of my reviews will know that I am an ardent fan of the work of Milton Erickson. You can imagine the delight I felt when I read of Kay that she was one of his most gifted students. They shared a joy of communication, a gift for language. Their work is professionally intoxicating and compulsive reading.
   Much of our thinking and methodology has been built upon foundations laid originally by Kay Thompson. She has done much to develop and expand the whole subject of contemporary hypnosis.
   The book, a testament to her life and work, deals with the subject of therapeutic communication from a variety of angles - direct teaching, comment, explanation, example and is at all times fascinating as well as informative.
   On the one level we get excellent instruction and advice on how to approach and conduct our own therapy sessions to achieve the greatest benefit. On the other hand, and in a very subtle way, we are also taught much about ourselves and the way we think and live. It is a book of intense humanity not a scientific tome alone.
   Throughout all of the book we are being taught sensitively yet firmly, how to conduct our own personal lives ! It is a book of inspiration and interpretation. It is a book with both breadth and depth which covers the complexity of the subject in an immensely readable way. It is a book written with care, concern , understanding, respect and total integrity, and not a little love.
   Speaking of love, I just have to quote a poem by Roy croft included in the book. It is sensational !
   It sets out to describe the teaching of Erickson and the shared values and thoughts of his followers.
   
   I love you, not only for what you are,
   But for what I am when I am with you.
   I love you, not only for what you have made of yourself,
   But for what you are making of me.
   I love you for the part of me you bring out.
   I love you for putting your hand into my heaped up heart,
   And passing over all the foolish, weak things you can't help dimly seeing there,
   And for bringing out into the light all the beautiful belongings
   That no one else had ever looked quite far enough to find.
   I love you because you are helping me to make,
   Of the lumber of my life, not a tavern but a temple,
   And of the words of my everyday,
   Not a reproach but a song.
   I love you because you have done more than any creed could
   Have done to make me good,
   And more than any fate could have done to make me happy.
   You have done it,
   Without a word,
   Without a touch,
   Without a sign
   You have done it by being yourself
   Perhaps that is what being a friend means, after all.
   I wish that I could have been one of the pupils that Kay guided through in their early years. I feel that I would have been uplifted by her excitement and commitment, captivated by her strength of personality and personal warmth and dazzled by the depth of her knowledge and the brilliant way in which she could share this with others.
   It is a great book about a great woman written by two great authors who, through their careful editing and selection of material and contributors etc, have almost allowed us to travel within our minds so that we can experience the power that was, that still is Kay Thompson.
   I finished the book feeling that I had met her, spoken with her and most certainly been affected by her in a very positive sense.
   I will make a sweeping statement but it is one that will be true, I know, and that is I will never be the same therapist, maybe even person, again. I will have been strengthened, guided and enlightened by this experience and feel most if not all readers will feel the same. As Akira Otani says within the book, " and her words will go on".
   Practically the book covers all aspects of a therapist's work. There are fascinating and very valuable sections on Therapy with Pain and an excellent section on Hypnosis in Dentistry which I found most helpful.
   Inductions and the nature of trance are dealt with at length, including commentary on clinical work and demonstration.
   As I said earlier, this book is about humanity, and I was delighted to see included a section on Ethics in caring, so often omitted from such texts. You will enjoy, too, " Why do we learn about hypnosis?"
   "Well, if you can do something good for them, Do it!" Was her catch phrase and could well be the catchphrase of each and every one of us who endeavour to tread in her footsteps.
   I have no doubt that if there was an Oscar for Hypnotherapy books of 2004 this one would come storming home as an undisputed winner, but it wouldn't be Kay standing up there making tearful thanks to her family, friends, patients, baby goldfishes. This would be drowned by OUR acclaim of a woman who has been and will continue to be a beacon for us to follow, an example to emulate. Sincerity breeds sincerity. Love breeds love.
   As you read this book sense the sincerity, bathe in the love and bring part of her professionalism and expertise into your lives and practice.
   Do I recommend this book ??
   I most certainly do!!!!!! Oh yes, by the way, the experience in being in the company of this wonderful lady and teacher was made possible by the inclusion of a CD, secreted right at the back of the book. Crown House - I salute you. Another astonishing achievement I feel.