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My Broken Vagina: One Woman's Quest to Fix Her Sex Life, and Yours
by Fran BusheThis book is one woman's funny, moving, and sometimes awkward quest to fix her sex life, but it's the story of millions of women everywhere - half of all women have felt pain during sex. During award-winning writer and performer Fran Bushe's journey towards building a better relationship with her genitals, doctors advised her to have a glass of wine to loosen up, and male friends suggested she simply hadn't 'tried' the right penis yet. Unsurprisingly, neither worked.After a visit to Sex Camp and many attempts to fix her 'broken' vagina, Fran decided to share her own hilarious, excruciating, and sometimes upsetting experiences. With the help of her 16 year old self's diary, expert advice, candid and enlightening interviews with others about sex, and some self-care exercises, Fran sets about trying to make herself, and other people, feel like they're not being gaslit by their own vaginas.
My Broken Vagina: One Woman's Quest to Fix Her Sex Life, and Yours
by Fran BusheThis book is one woman's funny, moving, and sometimes awkward quest to fix her sex life, but it's the story of millions of women everywhere - half of all women have felt pain during sex. During award-winning writer and performer Fran Bushe's journey towards building a better relationship with her genitals, doctors advised her to have a glass of wine to loosen up, and male friends suggested she simply hadn't 'tried' the right penis yet. Unsurprisingly, neither worked.After a visit to Sex Camp and many attempts to fix her 'broken' vagina, Fran decided to share her own hilarious, excruciating, and sometimes upsetting experiences. With the help of her 16 year old self's diary, expert advice, candid and enlightening interviews with others about sex, and some self-care exercises, Fran sets about trying to make herself, and other people, feel like they're not being gaslit by their own vaginas.
My Broken Vagina: One Woman's Quest to Fix Her Sex Life, and Yours
by Fran BusheA candid and hilarious conversation about what happens when sex doesn't feel like it's working.This book is one woman's funny, moving, and sometimes awkward quest to fix her sex life, but it's the story of millions of women everywhere - half of all women have felt pain during sex. During award-winning writer and performer Fran Bushe's journey towards building a better relationship with her genitals, doctors advised her to have a glass of wine to loosen up, and male friends suggested she simply hadn't 'tried' the right penis yet. Unsurprisingly, neither worked.After a visit to Sex Camp and many attempts to fix her 'broken' vagina, Fran decided to share her own hilarious, excruciating, and sometimes upsetting experiences. With the help of her 16 year old self's diary, expert advice, candid and enlightening interviews with others about sex, and some self-care exercises, Fran sets about trying to make herself, and other people, feel like they're not being gaslit by their own vaginas. (P) 2021 Hodder & Stoughton Ltd
My Brother's Keeper: The Untold Stories Behind the Business of Mental Health—and How to Stop the Abandonment of the Mentally Ill
by Nicholas RosenlichtA leading psychiatrist seeks to transform our understanding of mental health care and how it fits into larger social and economic forces—and proposes an effective and compassionate new framework for healing.Mental health care in America has become nothing short of atrocious. Supposed developments in treatment methods and medication remain inaccessible to those who need them most. Countless people seeking treatment are routinely funneled into prison or end up homeless while an epidemic of mental illness ravages younger generations. It seems obvious that the system is broken, but the tragic truth is that it is actually functioning exactly as intended, providing reliably enormous profits for the corporate entities who now manage mental health care. It is easy to turn a blind eye. Most of us are more comfortable ducking our own fears about mental health and placing our faith in the rugged American individual and the free market, rather than confronting our own prejudices and misguided beliefs. Why did we choose to build such a disastrous system when every other industrialized nation has developed far better models? After decades of work in psychiatry, Dr. Nicholas Rosenlicht reveals how and why we arrived at this abysmal reality—and more importantly, how we can find our way out of it. Timely and unflinching, and written with commanding prose and the deep knowledge of a mental health care veteran who categorically rejects corporate interests, Dr. Rosenlicht makes plain the disastrous outcomes of the for-profit mental health care model. Patients are &“clients&” and doctors are &“providers,&” stripping away the human element and emboldening shifty ethical and legal practices. Perhaps most insidious, the business model paints the mentally ill as the &“other,&” as people who just don&’t want help, rather than as people who can&’t afford care or even realize they need help as a consequence of their illness. But a path forward does exist. Mental illness is something that will touch all of us all of us in some way, if not directly through those we know and love. Those who have already helped care for a loved one know that those who suffer by it have hopes, desires, and aspirations. A healthy solution means a healthier society. In the tradition of Andrew Solomon or Bessel van der Kolk's The Body Keeps the Score, My Brother's Keeper is a paradigm shifting book that can help us find our way to real and lasting solutions.
My Degeneration: A Journey Through Parkinson’s (Graphic Medicine #3)
by Peter Dunlap-ShohlHow does one deal with a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease at the age of forty-three? My Degeneration, by former Anchorage Daily News staff cartoonist Peter Dunlap-Shohl, answers the question with humor and passion, recounting the author’s attempt to come to grips with the “malicious whimsy” of this chronic, progressive, and disabling disease. This graphic novel tracks Dunlap-Shohl’s journey through depression, the worsening symptoms of the disease, the juggling of medications and their side effects, the impact on relations with family and community, and the raft of mental and physical changes wrought by the malady. My Degeneration examines the current state of Parkinson’s care, including doctor/patient relations and the repercussions of a disease that, among other things, impairs movement, can rob patients of their ability to speak or write, degrades sufferers’ ability to deal with complexity, and interferes with the sense of balance. Readers learn what it’s like to undergo a dramatic, demanding, and audacious bit of high-tech brain surgery that can mysteriously restore much of a patient’s control over symptoms. But My Degeneration is more than a Parkinson’s memoir. Dunlap-Shohl gives the person newly diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease the information necessary to cope with it on a day-to-day basis. He chronicles the changes that life with the disease can bring to the way one sees the world and the way one is seen by the wider community. Dunlap-Shohl imparts a realistic basis for hope—hope not only to carry on, but to enjoy a decent quality of life.
My Dyslexia
by Philip SchultzDespite winning the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 2008, Philip Schultz could never shake the feeling of being exiled to the "dummy class" in school, where he was largely ignored by his teachers and peers and not expected to succeed. <P><P>Not until many years later, when his oldest son was diagnosed with dyslexia, did Schultz realize that he suffered from the same condition. <P>In his moving memoir, Schultz traces his difficult childhood and his new understanding of his early years. In doing so, he shows how a boy who did not learn to read until he was eleven went on to become a prize-winning poet by sheer force of determination. <P> His balancing act ”life as a member of a family with not one but two dyslexics, countered by his intellectual and creative successes as a writer ”reveals an inspiring story of the strengths of the human mind.
My Father's Brain: Life in the Shadow of Alzheimer's
by Sandeep JauharNamed a best book of the year by The New Yorker | A Smithsonian top ten science book of 2023 | One of AARP magazine's favorite books of 2023“Blending the humor, compassion, and absorbing family drama of first-rate memoir with expert science writing, [Sandeep Jauhar] has composed a can’t-miss introduction to what has been called the Age of Alzheimer’s.” —Sanjay Gupta, author of Keep Sharp and World War CA deeply affecting memoir of a father’s descent into dementia, and a revelatory inquiry into why the human brain degenerates with age and what we can do about it.Almost six million Americans—about one in every ten people over the age of sixty-five—have Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia, and this number is projected to more than double by 2050. What is it like to live with and amid this increasingly prevalent condition, an affliction that some fear more than death? In My Father’s Brain, the distinguished physician and author Sandeep Jauhar sets his father’s struggle with Alzheimer’s alongside his own journey toward understanding this disease and how it might best be coped with, if not cured.In an intimate memoir rich with humor and heartbreak, Jauhar relates how his immigrant father and extended family felt, quarreled, and found their way through the dissolution of a cherished life. Along the way, he lucidly exposes what happens in the brain as we age and our memory falters, and explores everything from ancient conceptions of the mind to the most cutting-edge neurological—and bioethical—research. Throughout, My Father’s Brain confronts the moral and psychological concerns that arise when family members must become caregivers, when children’s and parents’ roles reverse, and when we must accept unforeseen turns in our closest relationships—and in our understanding of what it is to have a self. The result is a work of essential insight into dementia, and into how scientists, caregivers, and all of us in an aging society are reckoning with the fallout.
My Father's Brain: Understanding Life in the Shadow of Alzheimer's
by Sandeep JauharA son's journey through his father's dementia. As a cardiologist, Sandeep Jauhar is trained to think logically and dispassionately about medical problems, and primed to offer his patients reassurance and solutions. But when his father is diagnosed with Alzheimer&’s there are no magic treatments or miracle drugs – only the promise of unstoppable decline. For years Jauhar watches his father undergo a distressing transformation. Once a prominent research geneticist and author, he now repeats questions over and over, forgets what he has eaten for breakfast, makes baffling financial decisions and turns into a liability behind the wheel. Jauhar investigates the science of dementia and what actually happens in the brain as we age and our memory falters, uncovering the history of Alzheimer&’s from first discovery to the most cutting-edge research, and whether modern treatments offer any hope in a global crisis. A blend of science, history and memoir, My Father&’s Brain is a brutally honest and moving account of how Jauhar and his siblings grappled every day with some of life&’s toughest questions.
My Five Senses
by Aliki<P>A child's world is one filled with the discovery of sensations, and "My Five Senses" captures the excitement and wonder that accompany these discoveries by focusing on such common sensations as licking ice cream, petting a bunny and hearing a fire engine. <P>[This text is listed as an example that meets Common Core Standards in English language arts for K-1 at http://www.corestandards.org.]
My Glory Was I Had Such Friends: A Memoir
by Amy SilversteinIn this moving memoir about the power of friendship and the resilience of the human spirit, Amy Silverstein tells the story of the extraordinary group of women who supported her as she waited on the precipice for a life-saving heart transplant.Nearly twenty-six years after receiving her first heart transplant, Amy Silverstein’s donor heart plummeted into failure. If she wanted to live, she had to take on the grueling quest for a new heart—immediately.A shot at survival meant uprooting her life and moving across the country to California. When her friends heard of her plans, there was only one reaction: “I’m there.” Nine remarkable women—Joy, Jill, Leja, Jody, Lauren, Robin, Valerie, Ann, and Jane—put demanding jobs and pressing family obligations on hold to fly across the country and be by Amy’s side. Creating a calendar spreadsheet, the women—some of them strangers to one another—passed the baton of friendship, one to the next, and headed straight and strong into the battle to help save Amy’s life.Empowered by the kind of empathy that can only grow with age, these women, each knowing Amy from different stages of her life, banded together to provide her with something that medicine alone could not. Sleeping on a cot beside her bed, they rubbed her back and feet when the pain was unbearable, adorned her room with death-distracting decorations, and engaged in their “best talks ever.” They saw the true measure of their friend’s strength, and they each responded in kind.My Glory Was I Had Such Friends is a tribute to these women and the intense hours they spent together—hours of heightened emotion and self-awareness, where everything was laid bare. Candid and heartrending, this once-in-a-lifetime story of connection and empathy is a powerful reminder of the ultimate importance of “showing up” for those we love.
My Health
by Rebecca J. DonatelleThis book delivers the latest in personal health, including a new mindfulness theme where research on the benefits of mindfulness practices and the tools to incorporate them in all aspects of health are included in new modules. The book’s modular organization allows students to focus on learning the core material they need to know, while Learning Outcomes and review questions provide immediate feedback on what they’ve learned, allowing them to customize their study plan. Meanwhile, a concise text and a comprehensive supplements package allow instructors to zero in on what students need―without the jargon―making personal health courses more rewarding.
My House Is Killing Me!: A Complete Guide to a Healthier Indoor Environment
by Jeffrey C. May Connie L. MayWhether you have allergies or asthma, or you just want to avoid exposures to indoor contaminants and allergens, this book will teach you how to have a healthier home.In this thoroughly revised edition of My House Is Killing Me! Jeffrey C. and Connie L. May draw on the dramatic personal stories of their clients to help readers understand the links between indoor environmental conditions and human health. Explaining how air conditioning, finished basements, and other home features affect indoor air quality, the authors offer a step-by-step approach to identifying, controlling, and even eliminating the sources of indoor pollutants and allergens. This new edition includes• more than 60 color photographs• expanded coverage on the dangers posed by volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced by such common items as paint, carpet, and household cleaning products• up-to-date information on the potential risks of installing spray polyurethane foam (SPF) insulation• completely new case studies of people who improved their indoor air quality by following the authors' advice• brand-new chapters, including " 'Trojan Horse' Allergens," "The Three Ps—Pets, Pests, and People," "Indoor Air Quality in Multi-Unit Buildings," and "Testing and Remediation."Reading My House Is Killing Me! lets you see your house the way an expert would. Along with offering a wealth of practical advice and proven solutions for various problems, the Mays include a glossary of terms and a list of valuable resources. This book is a must for all home occupants as well as perfect for those contemplating moving to or purchasing a property.
My Imaginary Illness: A Journey into Uncertainty and Prejudice in Medical Diagnosis (The Culture and Politics of Health Care Work)
by Chloe AtkinsHow Patients ThinkAt age twenty-one, Chloë Atkins began suffering from a mysterious illness, the symptoms of which rapidly worsened. Paralyzed for months at a time, she frequently required intubation and life support. She eventually became quadriplegic, dependent both on a wheelchair and on health professionals who refused to believe there was anything physically wrong with her. When test after test returned inconclusive results, Atkins's doctors pronounced her symptoms psychosomatic. Atkins was told not only that she was going to die but also that this was her own fault; they concluded she was so emotionally deranged that she was willing her own death.My Imaginary Illness is the compelling story of Atkins's decades-long battle with a disease deemed imaginary, her frustration with a succession of doctors and diagnoses, her immersion in the world of psychotherapy, and her excruciating physical and emotional journey back to wellness. As both a political theorist and patient, Atkins provides a narrative critique of contemporary medicine and its problematic handling of uncertainty and of symptoms that are not easily diagnosed or known. She convincingly illustrates that medicine's belief in evidence-based practice does not mean that individual doctors are capable of objectivity, nor that the presence of biomedical ethics invokes ethical practices in hospitals and clinics. A foreword by Bonnie Blair O'Connor, who teaches medical students how to listen to patients, and a clinical commentary by Dr. Brian David Hodges, a professor of psychiatry, enrich the book's narrative with practical guidance for medical practitioners and patients alike.
My Journey with Farrah: A Story of Life, Love, and Friendship
by Alana Stewart“A beautiful testament to the powerful love and friendship the two women shared as they searched for a miracle.”—Wichita Falls Times Record NewsIn My Journey with Farrah, Farrah Fawcett’s longtime friend Alana Stewart shares her personal diaries from her three years by Farrah’s side, during the former Charlie’s Angels actress’s tragic struggle to defeat cancer. A celebration of an incredible bond, the power of Farrah’s indomitable spirit, and poignant memories from their thirty years together, My Journey with Farrah is a tribute to an amazing woman and an amazing friendship.
My Journey with Jake: A Memoir of Parenting and Disability
by Miriam EdelsonJake is celebrating his tenth birthday. That’s a remarkable feat, because at birth he was given only three years to live. Miriam Edelson is his mother, a dedicated fighter for Jake and families in similar situations. Edelson poses some tough questions: How do parents cope with a child who has special needs? Are we failing, as a society, to care for children with disabilities? Whatever happened to the federal government’s promise of a “Children’s Agenda”? My Journey with Jake works on two levels. It’s a poignant memoir by a devoted mother, and a hard-hitting, well-researched look at health care for Canada’s children.
My Life Among the Serial Killers: Inside the Minds of the World's Most Notorious Murderers
by Helen Morrison Harold GoldbergIn this memoir, a forensic psychiatrist chronicles her work with more than 80 serial killers and her thoughts on what compels them.Judging by appearances, Dr. Helen Morrison has an ordinary life in the suburbs of a major city. She has a physician husband, two children, and a thriving psychiatric clinic. But her life is more than that. She is one of the world’s leading experts on serial killers, and has spent as many as four hundred hours alone in rooms with depraved murderers, digging deep into killers’ psyches in ways no profiler ever has before.In My Life among the Serial Killers, Dr. Morrison relates how she profiled the Mad Biter, Richard Otto Macek, who chewed on his victims’ body parts, stalked Dr. Morrison, then believed she was his wife. She did the last interview with Ed Gein, who was the inspiration for Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. John Wayne Gacy, the clown-obsessed killer of young men, sent her crazed Christmas cards and gave her his paintings as presents. Then there was Atlanta child killer Wayne Williams; rapist turned murderer Bobby Joe Long; Fred and Rosemary West, who killed girls and women in their Gloucester “House of Horrors”; and Brazil’s deadliest killer of children, Marcelo Costa de Andrade.Dr. Morrison has received hundreds of letters from killers, read their diaries and journals, evaluated crime scenes, testified at their trials, and studied photos of the gruesome carnage. She has interviewed the families of the victims—and the spouses and parents of the killers—to gain a deeper understanding of the killer’s environment and the public persona they adopt. She has also studied serial killers throughout history and shows how this is not a recent phenomenon with psychological autopsies of the fifteenth-century French war hero Gilles de Rais, the sixteenth-century Hungarian Countess Bathory, H.H. Holmes of the late nineteenth-century, and Albert Fish of the Roaring Twenties.Through it all, Dr. Morrison’s goal has been to discover the reasons serial killers are compelled to murder, how they choose their victims, and what we can do to prevent their crimes in the future. Her provocative conclusions will stun you.Praise for My Life Among the Serial Killers“A scary piece of work, with even scarier implications.” —Kirkus Reviews“A profoundly enlightening book. Morrison provides startling insights into what factors breed serial killers, and she avoids the broad generalizations that make other books of the topic seem slick and superficial. . . . This is an absorbing, disturbing book that makes it clear just how much we have yet to learn.” —Booklist
My Life with Diabetes
by Jan de VriesThe ever-growing problems of diabetes and hypoglycaemia are addressed clearly in this long-awaited book by Jan de Vries, who is himself a diabetic.The renowned healer points the possible cause and misunderstandings of the condition and advises authoritatively on its management. MY LIFE WITH DIABETES discusses dietary management and the natural ways to approach diabetes. As the responsiblity for the condition ultimately lies with the patient, this book will be of great value to those who are directly affected, as well as to the friends and families of diabetics, in helping them fully understand the facts relating to diabetes. The book succinctly assists diabetics in finding their way to better health and describes the many natural methods that can be used to control high and low blood sugar levels. It also guides patients who are involved in long-term treatment, indicating how they can overcome related problems using complementary methods. Offering a wealth of direct and uncomplicated advice, MY LIFE WITH DIABETES is an invaluable addition to an acclaimed series of health care titles by deVries.
My Life, Deleted: A Memoir
by Caitlin Rother Scott Bolzan Joan BolzanMy Life, Deleted—part love story, part medical mystery, and part inspirational memoir—is the true story of Scott Bolzan, the 46-year-old former pro football offensive lineman for the Cleveland Browns who suffered permanent amnesia after a tragic accident.Co-written with his wife Joan Bolzan, this riveting account details Scott's courageous fight to build a new life after losing all memories of his past, his wife and children, his likes and dislikes, and even how to navigate the fast pace and technology of the 21st century.Readers of In an Instant by Bob and Lee Woodruff, Jill Bolte Taylor's My Stroke of Insight, and Richard M. Cohen's Blindsided will be profoundly moved by My Life, Deleted, a remarkable story of tragedy, hope, love, and perseverance.
My Lovely Wife in the Psych Ward: A Memoir
by Mark LukachA heart-wrenching, yet hopeful, memoir of a young marriage that is redefined by mental illness and affirms the power of love.Mark and Giulia’s life together began as a storybook romance. They fell in love at eighteen, married at twenty-four, and were living their dream life in San Francisco. When Giulia was twenty-seven, she suffered a terrifying and unexpected psychotic break that landed her in the psych ward for nearly a month. One day she was vibrant and well-adjusted; the next she was delusional and suicidal, convinced that her loved ones were not safe. Eventually, Giulia fully recovered, and the couple had a son. But, soon after Jonas was born, Giulia had another breakdown, and then a third a few years after that. Pushed to the edge of the abyss, everything the couple had once taken for granted was upended. A story of the fragility of the mind, and the tenacity of the human spirit, My Lovely Wife in the Psych Ward is, above all, a love story that raises profound questions: How do we care for the people we love? What and who do we live for? Breathtaking in its candor, radiant with compassion, and written with dazzling lyricism, Lukach’s is an intensely personal odyssey through the harrowing years of his wife’s mental illness, anchored by an abiding devotion to family that will affirm readers’ faith in the power of love.
My Mad Dad: The Diary of an Unravelling Mind
by Robyn HollingworthInadvertent cross-dressing Attempted murder Jail break A waltz at a funeral A hernia the size of GuernseyHeartbreaking and darkly comic, these are the moments that litter the messy road from cared-for to carer, a journey that Robyn Hollingworth finds herself on when she's only twenty-five years old. Leaving London to return home to rural South Wales, Robyn finds that it's her old life - same teddy bears resting on her pillow, their bodies tucked under the duvet; same view of the garages behind which she'd had her first cigarette and first kiss - but so much has changed. Her dad, the proud, charmingly intelligent, self-made man who made people laugh, is in the grip of early onset Alzheimer's. His brilliant mind, which saw him building power stations and literally bringing light into the lives of others, has succumbed to darkness. As Robyn settles back in the rhythms of life in the rain-soaked vast Welsh valleys, she keeps a diary charting her journey as the dad she knew disappears before her eyes. Lyrical, poignant and with flashes of brilliant humour, My Mad Dad explores how in helping others we can heal ourselves. 'At some point the cared for become the carers...this isn't a shame and it isn't a tragedy and it isn't a chore. It is an honour. To be able to return the gift of love that someone bestows upon you is a gift in itself. This is a story of caring...'
My Madness Saved Me: The Madness and Marriage of Virginia Woolf
by Thomas Szasz"The vast literature on Virginia Woolf's life, work, and marriage falls into two groups. A large majority is certain that she was mentally ill, and a small minority is equally certain that she was not mentally ill but was misdiagnosed by psychiatrists. In this daring exploration of Woolf's life and work, Thomas Szasz--famed for his radical critique of psychiatric concepts, coercions, and excuses--examines the evidence and rejects both views. Instead, he looks at how Virginia Woolf, as well as her husband Leonard, used the concept of madness and the profession of psychiatry to manage and manipulate their own and each other's lives.Do we explain achievement when we attribute it to the fictitious entity we call ""genius""? Do we explain failure when we attribute it to the fictitious entity we call ""madness""? Or do we deceive ourselves the same way that the person deceives himself when he attributes the easy ignition of hydrogen to its being ""flammable""? Szasz interprets Virginia Woolf's life and work as expressions of her character, and her character as the ""product"" of her free will. He offers this view as a corrective against the prevailing, ostensibly scientific view that attributes both her ""madness"" and her ""genius"" to biological-genetic causes. We tend to attribute exceptional achievement to genius, and exceptional failure to madness. Both, says Szasz, are fictitious entities."
My Mini Midwife: Everything You Need to Know about Pregnancy and Birth
by Denyse KirkbyEver wished your midwife lived next door so you could ask her questions anytime? My Mini Midwife, by midwife and lecturer D. J. Kirkby, is here to provide the guidance you need. This handy book gives clear answers to confusing questions, from conception to delivery and beyond: it will be invaluable for anyone who is planning or expecting a baby.
My Mini Midwife: Everything You Need to Know about Pregnancy and Birth
by Denyse KirkbyEver wished your midwife lived next door so you could ask her questions anytime? My Mini Midwife, by midwife and lecturer D. J. Kirkby, is here to provide the guidance you need. This handy book gives clear answers to confusing questions, from conception to delivery and beyond: it will be invaluable for anyone who is planning or expecting a baby.
My Name Is Bill: Bill Wilson--His Life and the Creation of Alcoholics Anonymous
by Susan CheeverIn this thoroughly researched and groundbreaking biography of Bill Wilson, cofounder of Alcoholics Anonymous, acclaimed author Susan Cheever creates a remarkably human portrait of a man whose life and work both influenced and saved the lives of millions of people. Drawn from personal letters and diaries, records in a variety of archives, and hundreds of interviews, this definitive biography is the first fully documented account of Bill Wilson's life story.Alcoholics Anonymous is a worldwide organization that since 1935 has helped people break free from the destructive influence of intoxicating and addictive substances. This great wave of comfort and help that has covered the world had its beginning in one man, born shortly before the start of the twentieth century. Utilizing exhaustive research, Cheever traces Bill Wilson's life beginning with his birth in a small town in Vermont, where, following the breakup of his parents' marriage, he was raised primarily by his grandparents. Handsome and intelligent, with a wit and charm that both women and men responded to, he seemed at the outset to be capable of achieving anything he wanted.Wilson, however, also suffered from deep-seated insecurity, and once he was away from the provincial Vermont town, he found that alcohol helped relieve his self-doubts and brought out the charm and wit that had made him a favorite in school. "Help" eventually turned to dependence, and years after his first beer -- consumed at a Newport, Rhode Island, dinner party -- Bill Wilson finally had to come to terms with the fact that, while he loved the way alcohol made him feel, his life was spiraling out of control. Through a painful process of trial and error, using a blend of experiences, ideas, and medical knowledge gained through several hospitalizations, he was able to stop drinking. A few months later, when he met Dr. Robert Smith of Akron, Ohio, and was able to help him stop drinking also, Alcoholics Anonymous was born. Each man found in the other the support he needed to overcome the hold alcohol had on them. Together they discovered the power they had to help other alcoholics.Success did not come overnight, however, and as Cheever compellingly relates, Wilson had many struggles in a life fraught with controversies, including experiments with LSD and an unconventional fifty-three-year marriage.As one of the most influential and important thinkers of the twentieth century, Bill Wilson changed the way our society deals with addiction, and his ideas in turn have benefited countless individuals and their families. His life was complex, and in Susan Cheever's fascinating biography, he emerges as a man of great passion and courage; it is a story fully told for the first time.
My Office Is Killing Me!: The Sick Building Survival Guide
by Jeffrey C. MayBacteria and mold may lurk undetected in carpets or in the heating or cooling system of your office or school. When inhaled, the by-products of these organisms can cause allergy and asthma symptoms. Chemical vapors emitted by office furniture and equipment may also foul the air we breathe indoors, causing headaches, eye irritation, or other symptoms. Here the author of the best-selling My House Is Killing Me! and co-author of The Mold Survival Guide turns his attention to indoor air quality in public buildings. Blending his extensive professional experience with scientific explanations, May helps us see these buildings through the eyes of a building scientist, microscopist, and organic chemist. He offers a step-by-step approach to identifying, controlling, and often eliminating the sources of indoor air pollutants and allergens. Whether it's a case of mold in an elementary school or inadequate ventilation in a high-rise office building, this valuable guide can help people cope when the air they breathe indoors is making them sick.