- Table View
- List View
Family Wellness Skills: Quick Assessment and Practical Interventions for the Mental Health Professional
by Joseph HernandezA psycho-educational model for assessing individuals and families. In Family Wellness Skills, Joseph Hernandez, a longtime Family Wellness trainer and practitioner, shares the foundational concepts of the Family Wellness model to make it accessible to an even broader audience. In it, he provides mental health professionals with a map to guide their clients from recognizing a need for change, to deciding to make a change, to achieving change itself. Hernandez lays out the core ideas behind Family Wellness--chief among them, balancing individuality with connection; fostering skills for interpersonal health (speaking, listening, and cooperating); and developing and maintaining patterns that work for families (mutual respect, parents in charge, interdependence, and expecting change). He shows all helping professionals how to develop effective treatment plans and practical interventions that take into account a family's inherent assets. Family Wellness Skills provides a complete, handy guide to the key points of this successful treatment model, so any mental health professional can help families discover and develop their gifts and abilities, making for stronger, healthier relationships.
Famished: Eating Disorders and Failed Care in America
by Rebecca J. LesterWhen Rebecca Lester was eleven years old—and again when she was eighteen—she almost died from anorexia nervosa. Now both a tenured professor in anthropology and a licensed social worker, she turns her ethnographic and clinical gaze to the world of eating disorders—their history, diagnosis, lived realities, treatment, and place in the American cultural imagination. Famished, the culmination of over two decades of anthropological and clinical work, as well as a lifetime of lived experience, presents a profound rethinking of eating disorders and how to treat them. Through a mix of rich cultural analysis, detailed therapeutic accounts, and raw autobiographical reflections, Famished helps make sense of why people develop eating disorders, what the process of recovery is like, and why treatments so often fail. It’s also an unsparing condemnation of the tension between profit and care in American healthcare, demonstrating how a system set up to treat a disease may, in fact, perpetuate it. Fierce and vulnerable, critical and hopeful, Famished will forever change the way you understand eating disorders and the people who suffer with them.
Famous Case Histories in Neurotrauma: What neuroscience continues to learn from survivors
by Jessica MatyasUsing a popular case history format, this book presents a scientific history of neurotrauma. It covers a range of well-known cases, including Roald Dahl, James Brady, and Walter Freeman to give insights into a variety of neurotrauma causes and effects, from aphasia and amnesia to lobotomy and mercury toxicity. Cases are connected to clinical research methods, exploring how these methods have changed over time and illustrating how these cases are still relevant as we continue to learn about recovery from brain and spinal cord injuries. Focusing on individuals who survived their injuries beyond the acute phase, the book highlights the long-term behavioral effects of the injuries and provides estimates for prognoses and recovery pathways in acknowledgment of naturally occurring neuroregeneration. With helpful key term definitions, Matyas distinguishes fact from fiction to give an accurate account of a wide spectrum of cases and highlight what we can learn from them. Famous Case Histories in Neurotrauma is valuable reading for students in behavioral neuroscience, clinical neuropsychology and related fields.
Fanatics and Fools: The Game Plan for Winning Back America
by Arianna HuffingtonAs America's leaders fight pre-emptive wars abroad and ordinary Americans fight to keep their heads above water here at home, Arianna Huffington offers a no-holds-barred account of where we stand and a clear and remarkable vision of where we should be headed.
The Fandom of David Bowie: Everyone Says "Hi"
by Toija Cinque Sean RedmondBuilt from stories and memories shared by self-defined David Bowie fans, thisbook explores how Bowie existed as a figure of renewal and redemption,resonating in particular with those marginalized by culture and society. SeanRedmond and Toija Cinque draw on personal interviews, memorabilia, diaries,letters, communal gatherings and shared conversation to find out why Bowiemattered so much to the fans that idolized him. Contextualising the identification streams that have emerged around David Bowie, the book highlights his remarkable influence.
Fanon, Education, Action: Child as Method (Concepts for Critical Psychology)
by Erica BurmanBridging childhood studies, pedagogy and educational theory, critical psychology, and postcolonial studies, this unique book reads the role and functions of ‘the child’ and childhood as both cultural motif and as embodied life condition through the work of Frantz Fanon. Based on innovative readings of Fanon and postcolonial cultural studies, the book offers new insights for critical pedagogical and transformative practice in forging crucial links not only between the political and the psychological, but between distress, therapy, and (personal and political) learning and transformation. Structured around four indicative and distinct forms of ‘child’ read from Fanon’s texts (Idiotic, Traumatogenic, Therapeutic, Extemic), the author discusses both educational and therapeutic practices. The pedagogical links the political with the personal, and Fanon’s revolutionary psychoaffective account offers vital resources to inform these. Finally the book presents ‘child as method’ as a new analytical approach by which to read the geopolitical, which shows childhood, education, and critical psychological studies to be key to these at the level of theory, method, and practice. By interrogating contemporary modalities of childhood as modern economic and political tropes, the author offers conceptual and methodological resources for practically engaging with and transforming these. This book will be vital and fascinating reading for students and scholars in psychology, psychoanalysis, education and childhood studies, gender studies, postcolonial studies, and mental health.
Fanon, Phenomenology, and Psychology (Psychology and the Other)
by Leswin Laubscher, Derek Hook, and Miraj U. DesaiFanon, Phenomenology, and Psychology is the first edited collection dedicated to exploring the explicitly phenomenological foundations underlying Frantz Fanon’s most important insights. Featuring contributions from many of the world’s leading scholars on Fanon, this volume foregrounds a series of crucial phenomenological topics – inclusive of the domains of experience, structure, embodiment, and temporality – pertaining to the analysis and interrogation of racism and anti-Blackness. Chapters highlight and expand Fanon’s ongoing importance to the discipline of psychology while opening compelling new perspectives on psychopathology, decolonial praxis, racialized time, whiteness, Black subjectivity, the "racial ontologizing of the body," systematic structures of racism and resulting forms of trauma, Black Consciousness, and Africana phenomenology. In an era characterized by resurgent forms of anti-Blackness and racism, this book is essential reading for students, scholars, and activists who remain inspired by Fanon’s legacy.
Fans: How Watching Sports Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Understanding
by Larry Olmsted&“Olmsted opens a window into a psychologically compelling world of passion and purpose.&” —Harvey Araton, author of Our Last Season: A Writer, a Fan, a Friendship Larry Olmsted&’s writing and research have been called &“eye-opening&” (People), &“impressive&” (Publishers Weekly, starred review), and &“enlightening&” (Kirkus Reviews). Now, the New York Times and Washington Post bestselling author turns his expertise to a subject that has never been fully explored, delivering a highly entertaining game changer that uses brand-new research to show us why being a sports fan is good for us individually and is a force for positive change in society. Fans is a passionate reminder of how games, teams, and the communities dedicated to them are vital to our lives. Citing fascinating new studies on sports fandom, Larry Olmsted makes the case that the more you identify with a sports team, the better your social, psychological, and physical health is; the more meaningful your relationships are; and the more connected and happier you are. Fans maintain better cognitive processing as their gray matter ages; they have better language skills; and college students who follow sports have higher GPAs, better graduation rates, and higher incomes after graduating. And there&’s more: On a societal level, sports help us heal after tragedies, providing community and hope when we need it most. Fans is the perfect gift for anyone who loves sports or anyone who loves someone who loves sports.
Fans, Bloggers, and Gamers: Exploring Participatory Culture
by Henry JenkinsHenry Jenkins at Authors@Google (video)Henry Jenkins"s pioneering work in the early 1990s promoted the idea that fans are among the most active, creative, critically engaged, and socially connected consumers of popular culture and that they represent the vanguard of a new relationship with mass media. Though marginal and largely invisible to the general public at the time, today, media producers and advertisers, not to mention researchers and fans, take for granted the idea that the success of a media franchise depends on fan investments and participation.Bringing together the highlights of a decade and a half of groundbreaking research into the cultural life of media consumers, Fans, Bloggers, and Gamers takes readers from Jenkins's progressive early work defending fan culture against those who would marginalize or stigmatize it, through to his more recent work, combating moral panic and defending Goths and gamers in the wake of the Columbine shootings. Starting with an interview on the current state of fan studies, this volume maps the core theoretical and methodological issues in Fan Studies. It goes on to chart the growth of participatory culture on the web, take up blogging as perhaps the most powerful illustration of how consumer participation impacts mainstream media, and debate the public policy implications surrounding participation and intellectual property.
Fans of the Impossible Life
by Kate Scelsa<P>A captivating and profound debut novel about complicated love and the friendships that have the power to transform you forever. <P>Mira is starting over at Saint Francis Prep. She promised her parents she would at least try to pretend that she could act like a functioning human this time, not a girl who can't get out of bed for days on end, who only feels awake when she's with Sebby. <P>Jeremy is the painfully shy art nerd at Saint Francis who's been in self-imposed isolation after an incident that ruined his last year of school. When he sees Sebby for the first time across the school lawn, it's as if he's been expecting this blond, lanky boy with mischief glinting in his eye. <P>Sebby, Mira's gay best friend, is a boy who seems to carry sunlight around with him. Even as life in his foster home starts to take its toll, Sebby and Mira together craft a world of magic rituals and impromptu road trips, designed to fix the broken parts of their lives.' <P>As Jeremy finds himself drawn into Sebby and Mira's world, he begins to understand the secrets that they hide in order to protect themselves, to keep each other safe from those who don't understand their quest to live for the impossible.
Fantasy and Social Movements
by James S. OrmrodIt is sometimes assumed that fantasizing stands in contrast to activism. This book, however, argues that fantasy plays a central role in social movements. Drawing on the psychoanalytic theories of Freud, Klein and Lacan, and psychosocial theories inspired by them, Fantasy and Social Movements examines the relationships between fantasy, reality, action, the unconscious and the collective. It makes a case for distinguishing between various 'modes of fantasy', which configure these relationships in different ways. Illustrated by a case study of activists who support the exploration, development and settlement of outer space, the book's theoretical arguments provide a platform for a critical psychosocial reworking of contemporary social movement theory. The result is a new typology of social movements that places fantasy at its core.
The Fantasy of Individuality: On The Sociohistorical Construction Of The Modern Subject
by Almudena HernandoThis volume is a step in fleshing out the historical reasons for gender inequality from the origins of humankind to present times in the Western world. It argues that despite much critique during the last two decades, gender identities are still ultimately understood as closed and rigid categories which unwittingly reproduce modern Western values. It is a theoretically-informed and up-to-date overview of the history of gender inequality that takes as its starting point the mechanisms through which human beings construct their self-identity. It discusses deeply ingrained assumptions on the relationship between gender and materiality in the present that lead both the academic community and the general public alike to reproduce specific patterns of thought about sex and gender and project them into the past. Starting from a peripheral and heterodox perspective, this book intends to appraise the complexity of gender identity in all its richness and diversity. It seeks to understand the persistence of relationality in supposedly fully individualized male selves, and the construction of new forms of individuality among women that did not follow the masculine model. It is argued here that by balancing community and self beyond the contradictions of hegemonic masculinity, modern women are struggling to build a new, more empowering form of personhood. The author is an archaeologist, who uses her discipline not only to provide data, theory and a long-term perspective, but also in a metaphorical sense: to construct a socio-historical genealogy of current gender systems, through an examination of how personhood and self-identity have been constructed in the Western world.
Fantasy, Online Misogyny and the Manosphere: Male Bodies of Dis/Inhibition
by Jacob JohanssenThis book presents the first in-depth study of online misogyny and the manosphere from a psychoanalytic perspective. The author argues that the men of the manosphere present contradictory thoughts, desires and fantasies about women which include but also go beyond misogyny. They are in a state of dis/inhibition: torn between (un)conscious forces and fantasies which erupt and are defended against. Dis/inhibition shows itself in self-victimization and defensive apathy as well as toxic agency and symbolic power and expresses itself in desire for and hatred of other bodies. The text draws on the psychoanalytic thinkers Klaus Theweleit, Elisabeth Young-Bruehl, Jessica Benjamin and Wilhelm Reich to present detailed analyses of the communities within the so-called manosphere, including incels, Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW), alt-right YouTubers and NoFap users. Drawing on wider discussions about the status of sexuality in contemporary neoliberal technoculture since the sexual revolution of the late 1960s, it illuminates how sexuality, racism and images of the white male body shape the fantasies and affects of many men on the internet and beyond. Integrating a unique theoretical framework to help understand how today’s increase in online misogyny relates to the alt-right and fascism, Online Misogyny and the Manosphere is an important resource for academics in a variety of fields including psychoanalysis, media and communication studies, internet studies, masculinity research and more.
The Fantasy Principle: Psychoanalysis of the Imagination
by Michael Vannoy AdamsContemporary psychoanalysis needs less reality and more fantasy; what Michael Vannoy Adams calls the 'fantasy principle'. The Fantasy Principle radically affirms the centrality of imagination. It challenges us to exercise and explore the imagination, shows us how to value vitally important images that emerge from the unconscious, how to evoke such images, and how to engage them decisively. It shows us how to apply Jungian techniques to interpret images accurately and to experience images immediately and intimately through what Jung calls 'active imagination'. The Fantasy Principle makes a strong case for a new school of psychoanalysis - the school of 'imaginal psychology' - which emphasizes the transformative impact of images. All those who desire to give individuals an opportunity to become more imaginative will find this book fascinating reading.
FAQs on Anxiety
by Simon ChappleYou left the doctor's surgery before you could ask the things you really wanted to know. You've googled your question about anxiety and had 75 answers, all contradicting each other.You asked your best friend - but they looked at you strangely.You have so many questions, but no idea where to start finding the answers. Here they are. In this book you'll find the definitive, expert responses to all your FAQs: On Anxiety. No question is too simple, too embarrassing, too rude or too offbeat to be included, and each one has been asked by thousands of people just like you.Can anxiety make you vomit?Will I lose my job because of anxiety?Are anxious people weak?All these questions, and hundreds more, are covered in this short but powerful, helpful, practical guide to managing your anxiety. Read at your leisure, or dip in and out when you most need the support or to shine a light on the thoughts and feelings that are making you uncomfortable or unhappy, and to bring them out of the shadows so you can understand and accept them.
FAQs on Anxiety
by Simon ChappleYou left the doctor's surgery before you could ask the things you really wanted to know. You've googled your question about anxiety and had 75 answers, all contradicting each other.You asked your best friend - but they looked at you strangely.You have so many questions, but no idea where to start finding the answers. Here they are. In this book you'll find the definitive, expert responses to all your FAQs: On Anxiety. No question is too simple, too embarrassing, too rude or too offbeat to be included, and each one has been asked by thousands of people just like you.Can anxiety make you vomit?Will I lose my job because of anxiety?Are anxious people weak?All these questions, and hundreds more, are covered in this short but powerful, helpful, practical guide to managing your anxiety. Read at your leisure, or dip in and out when you most need the support or to shine a light on the thoughts and feelings that are making you uncomfortable or unhappy, and to bring them out of the shadows so you can understand and accept them.
FAQs on OCD
by Ashley Fulwood Zoe WilsonFOREWORD BY PROFESSOR PAUL SALKOVSKIS- You left the doctor's surgery before you could ask the things you really wanted to know.- You've googled your question about OCD and had 75 answers, all contradicting each other.- You asked your best friend - but they looked at you strangely.You have so many questions, but no idea where to start finding the answers. Here they are. In this book you'll find the definitive, expert responses to all your FAQs: On OCD. No question is too simple, too embarrassing, too rude or too offbeat to be included, and each one has been asked by thousands of people just like you.Will people judge me for my thoughts?Can hormones make OCD worse?Does anyone ruminate as much as me?All these questions, and hundreds more, are covered in this short but powerful, helpful, practical guide to managing your OCD. Read at your leisure, or dip in and out when you most need the support or to shine a light on the thoughts and feelings that are making you uncomfortable or unhappy, and to bring them out of the shadows so you can understand and accept them.
FAQs on OCD
by Ashley Fulwood Zoe WilsonFOREWORD BY PROFESSOR PAUL SALKOVSKIS- You left the doctor's surgery before you could ask the things you really wanted to know.- You've googled your question about OCD and had 75 answers, all contradicting each other.- You asked your best friend - but they looked at you strangely.You have so many questions, but no idea where to start finding the answers. Here they are. In this book you'll find the definitive, expert responses to all your FAQs: On OCD. No question is too simple, too embarrassing, too rude or too offbeat to be included, and each one has been asked by thousands of people just like you.Will people judge me for my thoughts?Can hormones make OCD worse?Does anyone ruminate as much as me?All these questions, and hundreds more, are covered in this short but powerful, helpful, practical guide to managing your OCD. Read at your leisure, or dip in and out when you most need the support or to shine a light on the thoughts and feelings that are making you uncomfortable or unhappy, and to bring them out of the shadows so you can understand and accept them.
Far from the Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity
by Andrew Solomon<P>From the National Book Award-winning author of The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression comes a monumental new work, a decade in the writing, about family. <P>In Far from the Tree, Andrew Solomon tells the stories of parents who not only learn to deal with their exceptional children but also find profound meaning in doing so. Solomon's startling proposition is that diversity is what unites us all. <P>He writes about families coping with deafness, dwarfism, Down syndrome, autism, schizophrenia, multiple severe disabilities, with children who are prodigies, who are conceived in rape, who become criminals, who are transgender. While each of these characteristics is potentially isolating, the experience of difference within families is universal, as are the triumphs of love Solomon documents in every chapter. All parenting turns on a crucial question: to what extent parents should accept their children for who they are, and to what extent they should help them become their best selves. <P>Drawing on forty thousand pages of interview transcripts with more than three hundred families, Solomon mines the eloquence of ordinary people facing extreme challenges. Whether considering prenatal screening for genetic disorders, cochlear implants for the deaf, or gender reassignment surgery for transgender people, Solomon narrates a universal struggle toward compassion. Many families grow closer through caring for a challenging child; most discover supportive communities of others similarly affected; some are inspired to become advocates and activists, celebrating the very conditions they once feared. <P>Woven into their courageous and affirming stories is Solomon's journey to accepting his own identity, which culminated in his midlife decision, influenced by this research, to become a parent. Elegantly reported by a spectacularly original thinker, Far from the Tree explores themes of generosity, acceptance, and tolerance--all rooted in the insight that love can transcend every prejudice. <P>This crucial and revelatory book expands our definition of what it is to be human.
The Far-Right Discourse of Multiculturalism in Intergroup Interactions: A Critical Discursive Perspective (Palgrave Studies in Discursive Psychology)
by Katarina Pettersson Emma NortioThis book employs discursive psychology to examine how far-right discourse on issues related to multiculturalism is received, interpreted, adapted and contested in political rhetoric and informal talk. It brings together the latest research from sociology and media studies concerning the circulation of far-right messages in the era of digitalization and the ‘hybrid media system’, and critical discursive psychology research into political and lay discourse pertaining to multiculturalism. Drawing on empirical material from the Nordic context allows for an analysis of political discourse within societies in which a strong tradition of social democratic welfare states now exists alongside the rise of populist and far-right parties. Operating in countries with comparatively high national internet and social media penetration, this book explores the extent to which the success of these parties is linked to their skilful use of social media, in order to mobilise popular support for their political agendas. The collection’s multilevel perspective aims to further the understanding of how the anti-immigration and anti-multiculturalist ideologies propagated by these parties contributes to the mainstreaming of their rhetoric among the political ‘elite’, as well as to the societal normalization of nationalist and xenophobic discourse. In doing so it will provide fresh insights for students and scholars of sociology, social psychology, discourse analysis, media and communication, and political science.
Farb- und Formpsychologie
by Tobias C. BreinerDieses Werk ist eine umfassende und praxisrelevante Darstellung zur Farb- und Formpsychologie. Mit einer klaren Sprache und über 100 farbigen Abbildungen wird Ihnen die komplexe Thematik auf eine wissenschaftliche und anregende Art veranschaulicht.Über eine allgemeine Einführung in die Grundlagen des visuellen Systems hinaus werden Sie ebenfalls spezielles Wissen zu Assoziationen, Wirkungen und Anwendungen bestimmter Farben und Formen erwerben. Speziellen Wert legt der Autor dabei auf deren Einsatz im Game Design. Es wird zudem erstmals eine neue Farbstudie präsentiert, die zeigt, dass die Assoziationen zu Farben sich in einem in sich logischen dreidimensionalen System anordnen lassen. Die daraus gezogenen überraschenden Erkenntnisse liefern mögliche Antworten auf fundamentale Fragen der Philosophie. Das Buch ist daher nicht nur ein Muss für Wahrnehmungspsychologen und Designer, sondern eine Bereicherung für alle an dieser Thematik Interessierten.
Farewell and new beginning: The Psychosocial Effects of Religiously Traditional Rites of Passage
by Kathrin Rothenberg-ElderLife is full of transitions. These transitions have to be addressed, shaped, processed and integrated into our lives in some way. Regardless of the belief in a God, traditional structures always come into view, here especially religiously traditional rites of passage such as baptism and circumcision, communion and bar mitzvah, marriage as well as convalescence, death and funeral rites. What is the psychological function of religiously traditional rites of passage today? This question will be investigated with the help of interactive interviews with functionaries and members of the religious communities of all three monotheistic currents in Northern Europe, flanked by two interviews with atheists.
Fármaco
by Almudena SánchezUn testimonio sobre la depresión escrito sin tabúes, con humor y cercanía por una de las voces más especiales de su generación. «Almudena Sánchez hace música con los añicos de ese cristal delicado del que estamos hechos.»Elvira Navarro Este es el relato de una explosión, del momento en que la tristeza dinamitó todas las certezas de la autora y decidió instalarse en su cuerpo. En Fármaco encontraréis un cerebro que quería desaparecer y una escritora que lo agarró y buscó cómos y porqués entre recuerdos, conductos y cavidades. Aquí hay infancia y hay madre, una niñez en escuelas de Mallorca y en campos de Castilla; hay pastillas naranjas que te ponen en pausa y pastillas rojas que te lanzan a la estratosfera; hay sueños, pesadillas y deseos: «ojalá la depresión se quitara desnudándonos, tímidamente y despacio». Y libros. Hay muchos libros, historias para escapar y otras para entender qué pasaba en su cabeza. Aquí la literatura es bálsamo, esperanza y salvación. La crítica ha dicho...«"Este libro es para personas tristes con sentido del humor", escribe Almudena Sánchez. Desde luego, Fármaco no es un texto para personas alegres que carezcan de él. El relato de la depresión se solapa con los recuerdos de infancia a los treinta y tres años. Sánchez es una Charlie Rivel y una Jesucrista Superestar que escribe, con ligereza, sobre un peso insoportable, y nos regala un libro honesto, limpio y maravilloso.»Marta Sanz «Como quien afila una mina de lápiz muy oscura para hacerla punzante y obtiene a la vez virutas de luz, así escribe en este libro Almudena Sanchez. No necesita excederse en la crudeza ni tampoco idealizar, escribe con distancia y temblor, abate cada prejuicio, enciende sombras.»Belén Gopegui «Un libro que se hace al mismo tiempo que la vida. En Fármaco cada símbolo esconde una historia, con su pasado y su presente. En la prosa de Almudena Sánchez, el futuro es la belleza.»Elena Medel Sobre La acústica de los iglús se dijo:«Sánchez salta a la comba contra la desdicha, pero no es un juego. Ella escribe con un esmerado desorden. ¿Con el esmerado desorden de los que intentan qué? Es posible que no envejecer.»Isabel González, El Mundo «Si acaso es posible la quimera de una adolescencia adulta, de una madurez jovial, los relatos de Almudena Sánchez apostarían todo a esa ensoñación, pues en ellos encontramos la mirada única de una narradora que templa el estilo para poner del revés la trama mágica del mundo.»Eñe «Pero su humor no es sólo satírico, sino que emplea la comedia y el absurdo para crear un mundo literario propio, distinto a cualquiera que hayamos leído hasta ahora. En este mundo particular, la narrativa se mezcla con la lírica y se dota de tantos matices que elcrítico literario corre el riesgo de perderse en calificativos.»Ricardo Lladosa, Heraldo de Aragón
Farsighted: How We Make the Decisions That Matter the Most
by Steven JohnsonThe hardest choices are also the most consequential. So why do we know so little about how to get them right? Big, life-altering decisions matter so much more than the decisions we make every day, and they're also the most difficult: where to live, whom to marry, what to believe, whether to start a company, how to end a war. There's no one-size-fits-all approach for addressing these kinds of conundrums. Steven Johnson's classic Where Good Ideas Come From inspired creative people all over the world with new ways of thinking about innovation. In Farsighted, he uncovers powerful tools for honing the important skill of complex decision-making. While you can't model a once-in-a-lifetime choice, you can model the deliberative tactics of expert decision-makers. These experts aren't just the master strategists running major companies or negotiating high-level diplomacy. They're the novelists who draw out the complexity of their characters' inner lives, the city officials who secure long-term water supplies, and the scientists who reckon with future challenges most of us haven't even imagined. The smartest decision-makers don't go with their guts. Their success relies on having a future-oriented approach and the ability to consider all their options in a creative, productive way. Through compelling stories that reveal surprising insights, Johnson explains how we can most effectively approach the choices that can chart the course of a life, an organization, or a civilization. Farsighted will help you imagine your possible futures and appreciate the subtle intelligence of the choices that shaped our broader social history.
Farther and Wilder: The Lost Weekends and Literary Dreams of Charles Jackson
by Blake BaileyFrom the prizewinning biographer of Richard Yates and John Cheever, here is the fascinating biography of Charles Jackson, the author of The Lost Weekend--a writer whose life and work encapsulated what it meant to be an addict and a closeted gay man in mid-century America, and what one had to do with the other. Charles Jackson's novel The Lost Weekend--the story of five disastrous days in the life of alcoholic Don Birnam--was published in 1944 to triumphant success. Within five years it had sold nearly half a million copies in various editions, and was added to the prestigious Modern Library. The actor Ray Milland, who would win an Oscar for his portrayal of Birnam, was coached in the ways of drunkenness by the novel's author--a balding, impeccably groomed middle-aged man who had been sober since 1936 and had no intention of going down in history as the author of a thinly veiled autobiography about a crypto-homosexual drunk. But The Lost Weekend was all but entirely based on Jackson's own experiences, and Jackson's valiant struggles fill these pages. He and his handsome gay brother, Fred ("Boom"), grew up in the scandal-plagued village of Newark, New York, and later lived in Europe as TB patients, consorting with aristocratic café society. Jackson went on to work in radio and Hollywood, was published widely, lived in the Hotel Chelsea in New York City, and knew everyone from Judy Garland and Billy Wilder to Thomas Mann and Mary McCarthy. A doting family man with two daughters, Jackson was often industrious and sober; he even became a celebrated spokesman for Alcoholics Anonymous. Yet he ultimately found it nearly impossible to write without the stimulus of pills or alcohol and felt his devotion to his work was worth the price. Rich with incident and character, Farther & Wilder is the moving story of an artist whose commitment to bringing forbidden subjects into the popular discourse was far ahead of his time.