Let me say first of all that I came to this book predisposed to like it. I had read Kramer’s earlier books on depression (Listening to Prozac, Against Depression) and enjoyed them a great deal. I’m aware that there has been a controversy concerning the use of anti-depressants and their efficacy so was pleased when I found this book. In the interest of transparency, I have a personal reason for advocacy of this book, for I have a long history with depression. I’ve got reason to know that anti-depressants can be just as efficacious and life-saving as Kramer says. They have indeed made me “ordinarily well”, a person who can function in the world. Before I found the one that worked, I was immobilized by anxiety and the kind of depression that cripples a person. I regarded existence as a burden, longed to die, but was so immobilized and enervated that I lacked the energy to do anything about it. The right anti-depressant and a good psychiatrist changed that. And after several good years on the right medication, I can say that I have found I am more resilient, that I can face even potentially devastating news with a measure of equanimity, and that I can finally say “I enjoy living.” In Kramer’s new book, he makes the case that anti-depressants ARE effective, that they have the research behind them to back this up, and they function as what he calls “co-therapists.” He cites study after study and backs up his claims with evidence. There IS reason to be wary of Big Pharma where psych drugs are concerned, but anti-depressants just might be one of their biggest successes. Don’t stop taking your anti-depressants! If you want to know WHY NOT, read this book!
Category: book review
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I Will Send Rain By Rae Meadows-A Review
If you don’t know what “dust pneumonia” is, you need to read this novel by Rae Meadows. She writes with such grace that she breathes color into a 1930s landscape that very likely had little in reality. Set in Mulehead, Oklahoma, the novel tells the story of Annie Bell in unsparing and relatively unsentimental detail but with such deftness that you can taste the grit of the dust that storms through the town and plagues the citizens as they depart one by one. She writes with a tenderness that lays her characters bare, so that the book is free of the cloying element that often accompanies historical fiction. I devoted an entire rainy evening to this book and enjoyed it very much, to my surprise. Not my usual read, but there you go. Books, like life, have a disconcerting way of surprising you, and that is one of the many reasons I love them!
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I Will Send Rain By Rae Meadows-A Review
If you don’t know what “dust pneumonia” is, you need to read this novel by Rae Meadows. She writes with such grace that she breathes color into a 1930s landscape that very likely had little in reality. Set in Mulehead, Oklahoma, the novel tells the story of Annie Bell in unsparing and relatively unsentimental detail but with such deftness that you can taste the grit of the dust that storms through the town and plagues the citizens as they depart one by one. She writes with a tenderness that lays her characters bare, so that the book is free of the cloying element that often accompanies historical fiction. I devoted an entire rainy evening to this book and enjoyed it very much, to my surprise. Not my usual read, but there you go. Books, like life, have a disconcerting way of surprising you, and that is one of the many reasons I love them!
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Hillbilly Elegy By J.D. Vance-A Review
Back to books, after a hiatus! I think that Hillbilly Elegy has garnered the amount of attention it has by seeming to offer insight on the demographic that might elect (shudder) Trump as POTUS. I confess that I read the book with some anticipation of finding a fresh perspective on an Appalachian connection, seeing as how I’ve lived in this region for almost twenty odd (in all senses of the word) years now. I was disappointed. Vance serves up the the usual fare I’ve come to expect from Appallit-there’s drinking, drug addiction, and violence aplenty, down to the almost stereotypical gun-toting “Mamaw,” but in the end he offers no fresh perspective on the the people he writes almost cruelly about, unless it that’s there’s little hope to be found among them. I HAVE been reading Appalachian authors for awhile now, and they do tend to a grim, dark, and cheerless worldview. Hillbilly Elegy, though a memoir, certainly follows that same tradition. So, here’s my take: this is a matter of the fortuitous book: Vance published the right book at the right time. It’s not a BAD book, but it’s certainly not a GREAT one. You want to read really GREAT Appallit, try Ron Rash.
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Hillbilly Elegy By J.D. Vance-A Review
Back to books, after a hiatus! I think that Hillbilly Elegy has garnered the amount of attention it has by seeming to offer insight on the demographic that might elect (shudder) Trump as POTUS. I confess that I read the book with some anticipation of finding a fresh perspective on an Appalachian connection, seeing as how I’ve lived in this region for almost twenty odd (in all senses of the word) years now. I was disappointed. Vance serves up the the usual fare I’ve come to expect from Appallit-there’s drinking, drug addiction, and violence aplenty, down to the almost stereotypical gun-toting “Mamaw,” but in the end he offers no fresh perspective on the the people he writes almost cruelly about, unless it that’s there’s little hope to be found among them. I HAVE been reading Appalachian authors for awhile now, and they do tend to a grim, dark, and cheerless worldview. Hillbilly Elegy, though a memoir, certainly follows that same tradition. So, here’s my take: this is a matter of the fortuitous book: Vance published the right book at the right time. It’s not a BAD book, but it’s certainly not a GREAT one. You want to read really GREAT Appallit, try Ron Rash.
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When The Music’s Over By Peter Robinson-A Review
The latest Inspect banks novel, this mystery did not seem as satisfying as his previous works. It tended to drag, and while the topic of historical abuse is a timely one, Banks failed to engage me. His development of the characters rang flat, and there was far less of Inspector Banks, Jazz Singh, and the others we’ve come to like in his novels. Even his descriptions of the landscape, usually evocative, captured only fragments of the harsh cityscape he meant to convey. He did present a nuanced representation of the racial tension in present day Britain and the problems that presents in terms of policing and pursuing cases. In view of the current struggles going in Europe and the U.S. over immigration, the novel did good a good job there. But, perhaps because he was concentrating on the politics of the novel, the book never quite rose to any heights. A pity, that.
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The Senility Of Vladimir P By Michael Honig-A Review
I am not as blown away by this novel as are other reviewers. Another Animal Farm it is not. Michael Honig Tells the story of Putin’s nurse, and indirectly Putin. as he cares for a Putin brought low by Alzheimer’s. Sheremetev is that rare man in this Russia-someone who is NOT on the take. But circumstances of family tragedy coupled with his growing awareness of his patient’s utter immoral nature conspire to drive even him to break his ethical code. The lively cast of characters who surround Sheremetev at the dacha add interest to the book as their true natures and histories are revealed. Sheremetev and his crisis of conscience leads him to an unexpected act, but it is Vladimir himself and the Russia he created-venal, corrupt, and unscrupulous-that is ultimately to blame for what befalls Patient One. A very good novel, yes, very readable-but great? No.
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The Money Cult By Chris Lehmann-A Review
Make room on your bookshelf next to Jeff Sharlet’s The Family and C Street and Kevin Kruse’s One Nation Under God. The Money Cult offers yet another look at the entwined history of American Christianity and capitalism. Rather than the Weberian analysis given by Kruse, Lehmann takes the stance that the underlying foundation of the American Protestant tradition is in fact a Gnostic one, which I found to be fascinating. He traces this back to Puritan times, then begins his history of economic Christianity. He does a very detailed job, including an explanation of Mormonism as the quintessential American religious experience. He does not neglect the modern evangelicals, and indeed the book begins with the popular Joel Osteen. If you are looking for a reason not to view Christianity with a jaundiced eye, this book is not for you. He casts it, at least the American Protestant version, as not so much a spiritual pursuit as a thinly veiled economic and financial system that revolves around profits, power, and the creation of wealth.
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The Money Cult By Chris Lehmann-A Review
Make room on your bookshelf next to Jeff Sharlet’s The Family and C Street and Kevin Kruse’s One Nation Under God. The Money Cult offers yet another look at the entwined history of American Christianity and capitalism. Rather than the Weberian analysis given by Kruse, Lehmann takes the stance that the underlying foundation of the American Protestant tradition is in fact a Gnostic one, which I found to be fascinating. He traces this back to Puritan times, then begins his history of economic Christianity. He does a very detailed job, including an explanation of Mormonism as the quintessential American religious experience. He does not neglect the modern evangelicals, and indeed the book begins with the popular Joel Osteen. If you are looking for a reason not to view Christianity with a jaundiced eye, this book is not for you. He casts it, at least the American Protestant version, as not so much a spiritual pursuit as a thinly veiled economic and financial system that revolves around profits, power, and the creation of wealth.
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River Road By Carol Goodman-A Review
Everyone has secrets, or so it seems in this novel by Carol Goodman. The main character, a professor who might or might not have a problem with alcohol, struggles to untangle both the web of deceit she finds herself caught up in and he rown knotty personal life. The book begins with a terrible accident, but Nan finds that nothing is what it appears to be. There are so many threads that could be followed in this plot that the novel loses its momentum and fails to follow any one of them successfully. It devolves into a college drug scenario (reefer madness, anyone?), pulls an unbelievable villain out of the blue, and throws in a town and gown romance for good measure. Don’t waste your time reading this one. I give it a firm thumbs down.