All Reviews
Reviews are listed in reverse chronological order, with the most recent review appearing first in the list.
Evidence for Psi
Paranormal or parapsychological research has always had what would appear to be an ‘uphill’ battle in terms of recognition in the scientific community.&n…
Fuckology
This strangely titled book makes an important contribution to the histories of medicine, psychiatry and sexology. It contextualizes John Money’s studies…
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God and the Multiverse
“I believe there is no source of deception in the investigation of nature which can compare with a fixed belief that certain kinds of…
Honoring Grief
Alexandra Kennedy is a psychotherapist, grief expert, and author. In the “Introduction” to her book, entitled Honoring Grief, Kennedy…
Letters to Penthouse Vol. 50
As pornography, these letters are pretty uniform. The main theme is wives who become sluts, and the husbands who watch them having sex with other m…
Mind-Body Workbook for Anxiety
The legacy of Descartes’ mind-body dualism has shaped our understanding of the relationship between mind and body beyond academia into our everyday think…
Not Gay
In Not Gay: Sex Between Straight White Men, author Jane Ward examines straight white men’s sexual relationships with other men and how thes…
Paperweight
This is a teen novel about eating disorders, and so it is serious. Eating disorders have a mortality rate comparable to that of the most serious me…
Philosophical Issues in Counseling and Psychotherapy
Since Lou Marinoff wrote his prominent book Plato Not Prozac Applying Philosophy to Everyday Problems, philosophy’s role in counseling and…
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Science and Pseudoscience in Clinical Psychology
The main purpose of Science and Pseudoscience in Clinical Psychology (second edition) is to illustrate tha…
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Selfish, Shallow, and Self-Absorbed
The editor of this compilation, Meghan Daum, opens her Introduction by borrowing from Tolstoy. She suggests that people who want children are all a…
Sex and the Soul, Updated Edition
In 2011 I reviewed Sex and the Soul: Juggling Sexuality, Spirituality, Romance, and Religion on America’s College Campuses by Donna Fr…
Shaping Our Selves
Until about 75 years ago, the mechanisms of human enhancement were limited to some natural short-acting pharmaceuticals, hard work, or a mate with the de…
Shrinks
Lieberman’s book is a welcome addition to the history of psychiatry. The book’s sub-title (which are often chosen by the publisher rather than the…
The Altruistic Brain
In 1851, Comte coined the term ‘Altruism’ in order to describe how human beings are made to live, care and love each other. From this he derived, th…
The Cake House
The Cake House is a tale of mourning and change for a teenage girl. Rosaura, who goes as Rosie, lives with her mother, step father Cl…
The Psychological Construction of Emotion
The Psychological Construction of Emotion is a carefully crafted eighteen-chapter anthology by the editors of the quarterly journal …
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Too Hot to Handle
Jonathan Zimmerman has written a concise yet extensive book covering the history of sex education from a global perspective, spanning over a century. In&…
99 Days
This is a straight-down-the-line American high school teen romance in which recent high school graduate spends the summer in her home town after a year a…
Alien Landscapes?
Professor Glover admits, right at the outset, that he is neither a psychiatrist nor a psychotherapist; yet his having witnessed mental disorders, on both…
Encyclopedia of Asylum Therapeutics, 1750-1950s
De Young’s Encyclopedia of Asylum Therapeutics, 1750-1950s is a fascinating book that is far richer and less slanted than its front an…
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Expressions of Judgment
Don’t be fooled by the slender look of this book–despite being only ninety-five pages long (without notes), it is a remarkably thorough appraisal of Kan…
Greek Models of Mind and Self
Nothing seems to be as axiomatic in our thinking about human identity and self-understanding as the following thesis: that human identity and selfhood pr…
Human Development, Language and the Future of Mankind
The prolific author of this important, engaging book died just before it appeared. Born in Prague, 1927, Louis Berger had degrees in engineering, music,&…
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Second Life
Julia lives in London with her family; her husband Hugh and their 14-year-old son Connor. They have a nice life; she is a photographer, Hugh is a s…