Book Description
Who is the devil you know?
Is it your lying, cheating ex-husband?
Your sadistic high school gym teacher?
Your boss who loves to humiliate people in meetings?
The colleague who stole your idea and passed it off as her own?
In the pages of The Sociopath Next Door, you will realize that your ex was not just misunderstood. He’s a sociopath. And your boss, teacher, and colleague? They may be sociopaths too.
We are accustomed to think of sociopaths as violent criminals, but in The Sociopath Next Door, Harvard psychologist Martha Stout reveals that a shocking 4 percent of ordinary people—one in twenty-five—has an often undetected mental disorder, the chief symptom of which is that that person possesses no conscience. He or she has no ability whatsoever to feel shame, guilt, or remorse. One in twenty-five everyday Americans, therefore, is secretly a sociopath. They could be your colleague, your neighbor, even family. And they can do literally anything at all and feel absolutely no guilt.
How do we recognize the remorseless? One of their chief characteristics is a kind of glow or charisma that makes sociopaths more charming or interesting than the other people around them. They’re more spontaneous, more intense, more complex, or even sexier than everyone else, making them tricky to identify and leaving us easily seduced. Fundamentally, sociopaths are different because they cannot love. Sociopaths learn early on to show sham emotion, but underneath they are indifferent to others’ suffering. They live to dominate and thrill to win.
The fact is, we all almost certainly know at least one or more sociopaths already. Part of the urgency in reading The Sociopath Next Door is the moment when we suddenly recognize that someone we know—someone we worked for, or were involved with, or voted for—is a sociopath. But what do we do with that knowledge? To arm us against the sociopath, Dr. Stout teaches us to question authority, suspect flattery, and beware the pity play. Above all, she writes, when a sociopath is beckoning, do not join the game.
It is the ruthless versus the rest of us, and The Sociopath Next Door will show you how to recognize and defeat the devil you know.
Customer Reviews:
Very Informative and Balanced.......2007-09-22
I would recommend this book to anyone who is struggling to find the answers for that mentally challenged family member who does not assimilate into society well. This book answered so many questions for our family. I found it to be very balanced and not "opinionated". The author did an excellent job of presenting the characters personalities,or lack therof, in a way that all readers could understand. The medical community seems somewhat hesitant to place labels on certain individuals and it was refreshing to see that there is some explanation and definition for what our family has been enduring for years. A great read!
Amazing information.......2007-08-27
Pretty scarey to know there are so many among us! Very easy read book and very informative.
Curses! That meddling Stout has revealed my devious plot!.......2007-08-23
I am one those people next door who can literally do ANYTHING.... and feel no guilt. I am unable to love. I am magnetic, sexy, and the word "charisma" does not begin to explain the animal magnetism I exude. I live to dominate and win. I eat my steaks rare--singed a bit on the outside and bloody inside. Very bloody. And I'll tell you what. Until Martha Stout wrote this book that gives all the ordinary sad-sack suckers out there the tools to identify my deep EEEEEEEEEE-vil, I was on track to dominate the world! BWA-HA-HA!!! But now that even an average schlump can look at me and think "psycho" without straining his limited mental faculties, the world shall never be my own personal oyster--with a fully stocked harem of beautiful captives, and my legions of enemies working themselves to death in salt mines. Thanks for nothing, Martha Stout!
Very Interesting!.......2007-08-23
This is a great book for anyone interested in Sociology. This book provides not only a glimpse into the lives of sociopaths, but is truly a first line of defense for everyone. It personally gave me a lot of insight into how these mentally ill people operate. I have a great understanding and unbelievably, empathy for sociopaths.
very readable and useful treatment of sociopathy.......2007-08-20
In contrast to the foundational book on this subject (Robert Hare's Without Conscience), this is a particularly readable treatment and should be required reading for all persons entering into or upon the brink of adulthood. That the phenomenon of psychopathy is as poorly understood as it is--and that its pervasiveness is similarly so underestimated by most people--reflects a serious area of vulnerability in our society.
Book Description
Human beings are selfish, small-minded, violence-prone savages, civilization is a blight on the earth, and the rising tide of chaos ensures that everything's going to fall apart any day now. Right? Wrong, says Rob Brezsny. In Pronoia Is the Antidote to Paranoia, he declares evil is boring, the universe is friendly, and life is a sublime gift created for our amusement and illumination. This buoyant perspective is not rooted in denial. On the contrary, Brezsny builds a case for a "cagey optimism" that does not require a repression of difficulty, but rather, seeks a vigorous engagement with it. The best way to attract the blessings that the world is conspiring to give us, he insists, is to dive into the most challenging mysteries. This witty, inspiring how-to shows how any reader can become "a wildly disciplined, fiercely tender . . . lustfully compassionate Master of Rowdy Bliss."
Customer Reviews:
I love this book!.......2007-09-30
This is my favorite book, at the moment, to have by my bed and read a random page or two every night. I've always enjoyed reading his horoscopes, and I look forward to them mainly for his unique and fun information and personality. This book is chock-full of that.
It's a real comfort-book to savor like fine wine or dark chocolate, (with no calories!) after a long day.
Enjoy.
To Have and to Give: giddy, hilarious, inspiring and fun.......2007-06-01
This morning I read an excerpt from Rob's book called "Glory in the Highest." It so moved me that I felt inspired to write this as a gratitude gift to him. A client gave the book to me several months ago. It has been a constant joy to me. I love everything about it. The cover pleases me. The title makes me smile. And the contents are tasty treats for the mind, the heart and whatever internal organ is in charge of laughing.
I just had several of my organs removed and spent almost a week on my back. I waited for for a phone call from the doctor with the results of a patholgy report. And dreamed the report I wanted into being. As my sweetheart so often says, "Never surrender your power to the menu" (and yes, thank you, it was great outcome!).
What helped me find the strongest place to do this from? Walking outside. I felt the intense rush of nature, all of it sun, grass, sky, energy from the earth, the trees. Living things, Life itself. The sheer and utter pleasure of LIFE.
The passage in "Pronoia," called "Glory in the Highest" so perfectly reflects the feeling I experienced and the way I still feel...a heady yet grounded blend of gratitude, amusement, enthusiasm, wonder, joy, appreciation and empathy for the poignancy of our adventure trips on planet Us as we learn to be kind and gentle to ourselves, to accept who we are and just be full-tilt humans, in all our wonderful weirdness.
I recommend his book in my hypnosis and coaching practice and to my friends. I thank him for the Divinely on-target and hilarious inspiration in "Pronoia," a light yet deeply satisfying souflee of short, easily accessed pieces blended together in a yummy concoction. Perfect for bedtime reading or refreshing moments throughout the day. Nutty, insightful, gorgeous and lots of fun. Great gift book for yourself or someone you love.
Some of the drops do sparkle!.......2007-05-29
As part of a valiant effort to shake Luddite tendencies, and despite a Credit Card perilously close to being maxed-out, I pressed the buttons to order 'PRONOIA' with the humble intent of making a silent gesture to thank Rob Brezsney for his Free Will Astrology. 'The least I can do is up this guy's sales - even if only by one - to thank him for his freely-shared gift and balance the cosmic scales a bit', thought I! Wrong! Wonderfully wrong! This book is such a rich cornucopia of wild and wondrous Truth - I feel like I'm now even further on the back-foot in this undeclared war - i.e. I'm even further challenged to yet out-bless Mr. Brezsney! Please buy this book to remind yourself of who you really already are! Effortless joy awaits, I promise! I also can't believe the incredibly low cost for a book this rich and voluminous, with every page a life-enriching treasure. And this mere token cost included shipping from half across the world! This book is simply the greatest gift in the whole world to give a friend or loved one, not only because it will look like you've spent a fortune on them, but more importantly because there's no way they won't LOVE it! How do I know this? Because I know there's a part of each of us that longs to simply let go of false-knowledge! The rewards are instant and ecstatically joyful. More than a necessary antidote - it's such a tonic! Brezsney you legend! I WILL get you back! Meanwhile, thanks to you too, good folk at Amazon, for such courteous and speedy service. Best buttons I've ever pressed! '... just a drop in the great blue motion of the sunlit sea ... but some of the drops sparkle ... Some of them DO sparkle'! (T.H. White)
Maybe We Could Just Be Happy.......2007-05-10
What a childish thought: just be happy! Yes, it is, and that is just the point. Few have considered the thought that life may be hard only because we have not really entertained the thought that it could be easy. Even Jesus recognized that we must become like children to enter God's Kingdom. That means childlike, not childish. And what is more childlike than the joyful perception that the universe is fundamentally friendly. If we get the God/world/life we believe in (and quantum research is proving that we do) then why not let a dose of Pronoia help you drop the cynicism and create something beautiful? If you are determined to remain a proud alumni of the "no pain, no gain" school of hard knocks, this is not the book for you. But if you would like to see the world from a fresh perspective, and have fun doing it, buy the book, relax, laugh and turn your world upside down.
Lee & Steven Hager are the authors of
Quantum Prodigal Son: Revisiting Jesus' Parable of the Prodigal Son from the Perspective of Quantum Mechanics
Pronoia; The Antidote For Paranoia.......2007-05-06
The Best book I've ever purchased. Rob Brezsny and The Beauty and Truth Laboratory is entirely infused with anti-cynicism. The truths they have researched and reported in these pages validate what I've always known and give me so much more insight into a way of transforming myself into the person I believe The Universe intends for me to be. It is Buddist in nature, very eastern in its philosophy, and so much more. There are quotes, notes and facts to back every word.
Book Description
Internationally respected authors, actively working in this area, establish theoretical reasons for extending cognitive therapy to these symptoms. This includes a justification for looking at symptoms rather than syndromes, first-person accounts of delusions and hallucinations along with an analysis of why the cognitive approach is ideally suited to the study and treatment of these disabling disorders. Describes how to make a cognitive assessment of both hallucinations and delusions and which measures to use. Contains new research and methods of managing these severe psychoses.
Book Description
The Traitor's Manual is the first supplement for Paranoia, perhaps the most unique roleplaying game ever produced. Filled with the same black and ironic humour, The Traitor's Manual will reveal a host of new secret societies, guiding players on how to subvert the power of the computer. It will also teach players how to turn in their friends and fellow players, making it the ultimate guide to getting ahead in the weird world that is Paranoia. Acclaimed publisher Mongoose has brought Paranoia back for a new generation, focussing on a surreal, twisted vision of the future where players are positively encouraged to betray each other merely to survive. There has never been a roleplaying game like it! With a full supporting programme of future products already in development, Paranoia is destined to once more provide roleplayers with the sort of frantic gaming experience that proved so popular at the game's inception.
Customer Reviews:
Best supplement out to date for Paranoia XP..........2006-06-01
And the kicker of being the most treasonous as well.
Simply put, this book outlines every secret society for Paranoia XP, each one is given 3-5 pages.
Besides those pearls, there's a complete adventure in the back and a section on why and how the Secret Societies exist. Now that the corebooks have gone through the entire color spectrum once, I can safely say that if you have the core book and don't have any supplements yet, your best bet is to get either this for explanation on Secret Societies, or Flashbacks for some great adventures in all their hardbound glory.
Book Description
Paranoia XP is the entirely updated and perfected version of the darkly humorous RPG originally published by West End Games. This 256 page book brings back one of the greatest roleplaying games ever produced, in a fabulous new edition utilizing many of the original design team that made Paranoia great.
Customer Reviews:
Paranoia 3: Rise of the Machines.......2006-06-01
Paranoia XP is the newest and in my opinion best version of the Paranoia game line. Here are people who need not apply (just to get you guys on to games better suited for your playstyle):
Gamers who like heavy combat tactics needn't look into Paranoia XP. Most of the weapons will kill a clone in one shot.
Gamers who like strategy in character generation or advancement needn't look into Paranoia XP.
Gamers who tend toward heavier systems (D&D, Rifts, HERO, GURPS) probably should tread with caution, as Paranoia XP's system is one die roll-under for everything. The rules are simple: roll a d20, get under Skill. Then if the GM decides you succeed, you succeed.
Gamers intent on character growth and development can find some support for such here, but under Classic rules, characters die often and hilariously.
If you like intra-party harmony, a good idea for nearly all RPGs, shouldn't look here. Paranoia is about backstabbing your fellow Troubleshooter.
If you enjoy having larger than life heroes, don't look into Paranoia XP. Paranoia XP characters are incompetant, ignorant, and insane.
Well, if you're still here, you either don't care about the above, or you're still interested to hear about the game itself, well, here goes:
By the way, you might have noticed I'm not bothering with any "HAPPINESS IS MANDATORY!" or "NOT AVAILABLE AT YOUR SECURITY CLEARANCE!" stuff, because I know it can be quite offputting to those looking into the game. It's an "in" joke, and using it against people who aren't "in" yet is a bit mean and/or foolish.
The game is about a complex, an underground post-modern utopia called the Alpha Complex, which is run by an AI called The Computer. Or it would be a utopia, if The Computer wasn't insane and paranoid, looking for commie mutant traitors. The Computer has security cameras everywhere, and regulates everything in the complex: air, food, plumbing, industry, economy, etc. Everything. But that's not the worst of it.
The mass of population is heavily medicated, usually happy in their existence mowing about the complex and doing their assigned duties. But not the player's characters! They have gotten the honor of being moved up in security clearance, from a lowly INFRARED to the slightly less lowly RED. Their job has been reassigned to Troubleshooter, and they get a laser gun! They go on fantastic suicidal/impossible missions for The Computer to root out commie mutant traitors, secret society members, and other sabateurs of The Computer. There's only one problem...
All the characters are mutants, and all belong to a Secret Society (perhaps even Communists). All the characters are traitors. And it's not like players don't know that everyone is a traitor. Instant mayhem, just add water and stir.
If this sort of game doesn't interest you, Paranoia XP is not for you.
You are in error. No one is screaming. Happiness is mandatory!.......2006-02-16
This is the single most entertaining RPG book on my shelf. As far as reading the material goes, it's a perfect example of what you can do by turning normally frowned on RPG behavior into a drop dead riot of a game. The emphasis here is on the drop dead part.
While the text of the game goes to great lengths in instilling in the reader a sense of how the game is supposed to be played, in the end there are only two rules that need following.
1. The GM is always right.
2. Happiness is mandatory!
It's that simple, and it couldn't be more fun to read this book. Once you understand that every bit of it is cleverly written to convey the theme of Paranoia to the reader, you don't feel like you are being lectured yet again on the proper application of an attack roll. Rather you are learning what it is to be a GM/Player of this great game.
I only hold one complaint which is so minor that it didn't even effect me giving this game a perfect score.
Normally I don't find it necessary to print two seperate books for the core of a game. I actually prefer many games where GM and player information can be easily included together in one well laid out tome. Basically I don't think it's normally necessary to have to have two or more books to play and run a game. However in this case I think I would've preferred a division of the book into a distinct Player's guide and a distinct GM's manual. I think this is truly one of those games where the player's are better served to discover the ins and outs through regular play. In the case of Paranoia, the fun is in the failure.
ADVICE TO ASPIRING TROUBLESHOOTERS:
If you intend on playing this game, take the books advice and don't read the GM only section. Trust me when I say the tension caused by the unknown is the bread and butter of an enjoyable Paranoia session.
If you're the one buying the book for your group, gather the money together from fellow players and give this as a gift to your GM. He'll thank you, and any GM worth his weight will itch to run this game once he gets his hands on it. After all, what's the point of owning a book you are only supposed to read 48 pages of. PLAY THE GAME FIRST, AND THEN AFTER A WHILE BUY THE BOOK FOR YOURSELF. DON'T RUIN THE FUN BY READING TOO MUCH!
All in all, even if you do intend to ignore my advice and read it all, you'll have a blast doing so. I haven't had this much fun reading an RPG in a long time (with the possible exception of Godlike).
STAY ALERT! TRUST NO ONE! KEEP YOUR LASER HANDY!
highly reccomend, very original RPG.......2005-04-29
This is one of the best RPG's I've come along in a long time...it's extremely unique, fun, relevant to the times, and hillarious! Imagine a dark, dystopian, 1984-like future...except more comic, more insane, and more deadly. It's worth it to buy just to read the book, it's written very well with a dashing brand of twisted humor. My brother loved it too, and just *had* to borrow it once he had read through a bit.
The rules though, I have no idea about...whenever I GM an RPG, I just skip most of the rules and run things in a more story-based, freeform way. So that I can't vouch for...but even if they suck, the setting should make up for it :)
Good text, but the art needs work.......2004-12-13
The new Paranoia XP (PXP) is a refreshing breeze for the game. Well written, obviously very thought out, without the problems of 5th edition. It's hard to give a review without comparing it to older editions, of course. Suffice to say that this might be the edition that brings Paranoia out of gaming limbo.
Everything is well thought out, from mutations to secret societies to the history and functioning of Alpha Complex. The increased use of personal computers, PDAs and the Internet is now reflected in PXP. The humor is present, but in measured doses, and there was (thank goodness) no attempt to go "over the top" with things. No acronyms simply to make funny acronyms, for instance. Character creation is notably different from previous editions (no stats for Strength, Intelligence, etc.), but now characters can improve themselves. With the addition of three play styles - Zap, Classic, and Straight - they may actually live long enough to do so! ("Straight" Paranoia, for instance, presumes a dark, gritty, realistic game, while Classic is 1st/2nd edition style, and Zap is simply "everyone shoots everything and each other".)
The downside? Well, the index isn't as helpful as you might think, and it's hard to find the chapter breaks. Several times when I wanted to look up a specific table or information, I ended up leafing through the book to find what I wanted.
Also, a mention on the artwork. Jim Holloway was the original Paranoia artist in 1984. He's been tapped again for PXP, and it appears his style has not evolved or improved in 20 years. Paranoia purists might enjoy it, but I was hoping for something a little more updated, more in keeping with the times. No, that doesn't mean I wanted a "manga" look, but there have been other Paranoia artists (Greg Guler, Valerie Valusek, Brian Schomburg, Sonya Obrochta, etc.) who might have been used. I've played Paranoia since 1st edition, and Holloway's artwork has not aged well. Unfortunately, the official word is that Holloway's art will continue to appear in PXP products.
Art and index issues aside, this is a good return to the series' roots. Old-school Paranoia fans should be pleased. I hope PXP will bring new fans into the fold as well.
These Rules Rule!.......2004-08-20
I read this book from cover to cover, and I must say that it is cleverly written, well formatted, and easy to understand. Mr. Varney perfectly captures the essence of the original game (released 20 years ago with great success), while updating it with modern gaming concepts and themes relevant to the times we live in. I was a fan of the original "2nd" edition rules, but a definite non-fan of the rather unpleasant "5th" edition rules - as is the case with many of us old-timers. But I am happy to report that this edition stands on it's own - incorporating everything I loved about the "2nd" edition and excluding everything I hated about the "5th" edition. Well done Allen Varney, well done Greg Costikyan and crew, kudos to all. Buy this book - Friend Computer insists.
Amazon.com
Daniel Paul Schreber began Memoirs of my Nervous Illness in February 1900 while confined in an asylum, as part of an appeal for release. Schreber, second son (the first committed suicide) of an abusive father, was at the peak of a brilliant career in Leipzig when he was appointed Presiding Judge of the Saxon High Court of Appeals. Alas, the stress of his new job proved too much for him, and before long he was hearing voices and feeling suicidal. Within weeks he was committed, having rapidly descended into madness, and was placed under the care of Dr. Paul Emil Flechsig. From the start, Schreber struggled to make sense of what he was seeing and hearing, and in fact Memoirs is so lucid and self-aware, so internally consistent and insightful, that he was released on its strength. Still, reading this man's prose is a lesson in subjective reality, by turns funny and terrifying.
I existed frequently without a stomach.... In the case of any other human being this would have resulted in natural pus formation with an inevitably fatal outcome; but the food pulp could not damage my body because all impure matter in it was soaked up again by the rays.
As Christianity alone could not explain what seemed to be happening to him, Schreber pieced together a complex theology involving a divided God with dark and light incarnations, whose "rays" and "nerves" interacted in various ways with humans. God was also his personal tormentor, in league with Flechsig to commit "soul-murder" by manipulating his nerves. Further, Schreber believed that he was being literally "unmanned" so that God could sexually violate him and conceive a new human race: "But as soon as I am alone with God ... I must continually or at least at certain times strive to give divine rays the impression of a woman in the height of sexual delight..."
Schreber had a hard time believing in the "fleeting-improvised-men" who flitted in and out of his life, and grew convinced that he was the only human left in a world of shadows. But he did know that something was wrong. He would hear the birds in the asylum's garden ask him, over and over, "Are you not ashamed?" And he was aware that his bellowing, banging on the piano, and other bodily manifestations of God's manipulation of his nerves (or "miracles") were startling to others, to say the least. Many of Schreber's delusions had to do with escaping his body--the constant babble of thousands of voices in his head were infuriating, as was his inability to cease thinking:
The sound which reaches my own ear--hundreds of times every day--is so definite that it cannot be a hallucination. The genuine "cries of help" are always instantly followed by the phrase which has been learnt by rote: "If only the cursed cries of help would stop."
Memoirs of My Nervous Illness succeeds on many levels: as a memoir, as imaginative literature, and as a serious work of mythology. Flechsig makes a menacing and inscrutable villain, representing materialistic thinking and conventional reality--no help at all. Schreber, meanwhile, is the classic hero, struggling to stay sane in a cruel and capricious universe. --Therese Littleton
Book Description
In 1884, the distinguished German jurist Daniel Paul Schreber suffered the first of a series of mental collapses that would afflict him for the rest of his life. In his madness, the world was revealed to him as an enormous architecture of nerves, dominated by a predatory God. It became clear to Schreber that his personal crisis was implicated in what he called a "crisis in God's realm," one that had transformed the rest of humanity into a race of fantasms. There was only one remedy; as his doctor noted: Schreber "considered himself chosen to redeem the world, and to restore to it the lost state of Blessedness. This, however, he could only do by first being transformed from a man into a woman...."
Customer Reviews:
What else you should know:.......2003-06-13
Others who have posted reviews of this book are certainly correct in their assessment -- it's engaging, harrowing, enlightening, etc. HOWEVER, nobody has addressed the actual CAUSE of Schreber's insanity which, of course, is key to the reading of his memoir. The patient in most cases, and certainly in this case, is unable to tell us matter-of-factly what is troubling him. Instead, he tells us of his dreams or his imaginings, or his horrible delusions. It is then the psychiatrist who untangles the web. I can't recommend highly enough, as a companion to Schreber's memoir, the book "Soul Murder: Persecution in the Family," written by the psychiatrist Morton Schatzman. The book is now out of print, but can still be found used. Instead of describing the book,I'll quote from the jacket flap: "Daniel Paul Schreber (1842-1911), an eminent German judge, went mad at the age of 42, recovered, and eight and a half years later, went mad again. It is uncertain if he was ever fully sane, in the ordinary social sense, again. His father, Daniel Gottlieb Moritz Schreber (1808-1861), who supervised his son's upbringing, was a leading German physician and pedagogue, whose studies and writings on child rearing techniques strongly influenced his practices during his life and long after his death. The father thought his age to be morally "soft" and "decayed" owing mainly to laxity in educating and disciplining children at home and school. He proposed to "battle" the "weakness" of his era with an elaborate system aimed at making children obedient and subject to adults. He expected that following his precepts would lead to a better society and "race." The father applied these same basic principals in raising his own children, including Daniel Paul and another son, Daniel Gustav, the elder, who also went mad and committed suicide in his thirties. Psychiatrists consider the case of the former, Daniel Paul, as the classic model of paranoia and schizophrenia, but even Freud and Bleuler (in their analyses of the son's illness) failed to link the strange experiences of Daniel Paul, for which he was thought mad, to his father's totalitarian child-rearing practices. In "Soul Murder," Morton Schatzman does just that -- connects the father's methods with the elements of the son's experience, and vice versa. This is done through a detailed analysis and comparison of Daniel Paul's "Memoirs of My Nervous Illness," a diary written during his second, long confinement, with his father's published and widely read writings on child rearing. The result is a startling and profoundly disturbing study of the nature and origin of mental illness -- a book that calls into question the value of classical models for defining mental illness and suggests the directions that the search for new models might take. As such, the author's findings touch on many domains: education, psychiatry, religion, sociology, politics -- the micro-politics of child-rearing and family life and their relation to the macro-politics of larger human groups." For me, this book shed a great light on "Memoirs of My Nervous Illness." In reading the other reviews, I get the sense that some people have concluded that Daniel (the son) "simply went mad," or "something went wrong," when the truth is that his father was a border-line personality and one sadistic man who inflicted his own brand of insanity on his children. If only we had something to document the father's childhood . . .
The Poetry of Madness.......2002-02-14
Shortly after the death of Daniel Paul Schreber, Sigmund Freud used his (Schreber's) memoirs as the basis for a fantasy of his own. Everyday readers are lucky that Schreber wrote down so much of what he saw, heard and felt during his many years in German mental asylums, for his own observations are far more artistic and harrowing than anything Freud ever wrote.
In this book, Schreber takes us into his world--the world of the genuine schizophrenic. He writes of the "little men" who come to invade his body and of the stars from which they came.
That these "little men" choose to invade Schreber's body in more ways than one only makes his story all the more harrowing. At night, he tells us, they would drip down onto his head by the thousands, although he warned them against approaching him.
Schreber's story is not the only thing that is disquieting about this book. His style of writing is, too. It is made up of the ravings of a madman, yet it contains a fluidity and lucidity that rival that of any "logical" person. It only takes a few pages before we become enmeshed in the strange smells, tastes, insights and visions he describes so vividly.
Much of this book is hallucinatory; for example, Schreber writes of how the sun follows him as he moves around the room, depending on the direction of his movements. And, although we know the sun was not following Schreber, his explanation makes sense, in an eerie sort of way.
What Schreber has really done is to capture the sheer poetry of insanity and madness in such a way that we, as his readers, feel ourselves being swept along with him into his world of fantasy. It is a world without anchors, a world where the human soul is simply left to drift and survive as best it can. Eventually, one begins to wonder if madness is contagious. Perhaps it is. The son of physician, Moritz Schreber, Schreber came from a family of "madmen," to a greater or lesser degree.
Memoirs of My Nervous Illness has definitely made Schreber one of the most well-known and quoted patients in the history of psychiatry...and with good reason. He had a mind that never let him live in peace and he chronicles its intensity perfectly. He also describes the fascinating point and counterpoint of his "inner dialogues," an internal voice that chattered constantly, forcing Schreber to construct elaborate schemes to either explain it or escape it. He tries suicide and when that fails, he attempts to turn himself into a diaphanous, floating woman.
Although no one is sure what madness really is, it is clear that for Schreber it was something he described as "compulsive thinking." This poor man's control center had simply lost control. The final vision we have of Schreber in this book is harrowing in its intensity and in its angst. Pacing, with the very sun paling before his gaze, this brilliant madman walked up and down his cell, talking to anyone who would listen.
This is a harrowing, but fascinating book and is definitely not for the faint of heart. Schreber describes man's inner life in as much detail as a Hamlet or a Ulysses. The most terrifying part is that in Schreber, we see a little of both ourselves and everyone we know.
A very strange, but profound work.......2000-11-29
To begin with, the reader should be forewarned that what the author suffers from is not the idiomatic English "nervous illness," or mild neurosis, but a fundamentally different way of seeing the world, stated best by the author at the beginning of Chapter 5:"Apart from normal human language there is also a kind of nerve language of which, as a rule, the healthy human being is not aware." The book's profundity and the author's depth of insight are such that, after reading a few pages of the first chapter, one is reminded of nothing so much as Proust's Remembrance of Things Past: "Souls' greatest happiness lies in continual reveling in pleasure combined with recollections of their human past."....But, after this, the book becomes as disturbing as Proust is essentially soothing. For the author feels himself utterly isolated from other men, not even deigning to recognize them as men at all but as "fleeting-improvised-men" which "creates a feeling in me at times as if I were moving among walking corpses." (Ch. 15) What I found so disturbing about the elaboration of the author's viewpoint and recounting of his tribulations in the asylum is that there is something in his viewpoint that rings essentially true: We do not and can not know even those closest to us on the deep spiritual or "nerve language" level the author exists on in perpetuum. It is this essential truth combined with the author's matter-of-fact, almost cheery, tone that made reading this work such a strange experience for me. For English readers, such characters do exist in fiction (Poe's Usher kept occuring to me, and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein), but the tone of such psychically unstable characters and what we would call their nervous disposition are consonant with a mind gone awry and thus not to be taken so seriously. Of Schreber, just the opposite impresses itself upon the reader. It is this dissonance between tone and subject matter that render the book strange. For the view it expresses is essentially a dark one. If one reads closely, a terribly dark one. The only thing comparable to it is the worldview of the Gnostics: That this world is essentially some sort of mistake, and that there may be no way to "fix" it, as it were. The main reason to read the book, to my mind, is that it is a well-written,non-fiction account of a unique state of being (although readers might want to check out Proust as well as The Gnostic Religion by Hans Jonas for similarities.) But, caveat lector, the book is not for the faint of heart. It may keep you up many a night. It did me!
at LAST!.......2000-02-05
this is one of my favorite books of all time. NYRB is now my favorite place on earth! THANK YOU THANK YOU! (ps. this is a classic, all should read it)
Book Description
Why, Timothy Melley asks, have paranoia and conspiracy theory become such prominent features of postwar American culture? In Empire of Conspiracy, Melley explores the recent growth of anxieties about thought-control, assassination, political indoctrination, stalking, surveillance, and corporate and government plots. At the heart of these developments, he believes, lies a widespread sense of crisis in the way Americans think about human autonomy and individuality. Nothing reveals this crisis more than the remarkably consistent form of expression that Melley calls "agency panic"--an intense fear that individuals can be shaped or controlled by powerful external forces. Drawing on a broad range of forms that manifest this fear--including fiction, film, television, sociology, political writing, self-help literature, and cultural theory--Melley provides a new understanding of the relation between postwar American literature, popular culture, and cultural theory.
Empire of Conspiracy offers insightful new readings of texts ranging from Joseph Heller's Catch-22 to the Unabomber "Manifesto," from Vance Packard's Hidden Persuaders to recent addiction discourse, and from the "stalker" novels of Margaret Atwood and Diane Johnson to the conspiracy fictions of Thomas Pynchon, William Burroughs, Don DeLillo, and Kathy Acker. Throughout, Melley finds recurrent anxieties about the power of large organizations to control human beings. These fears, he contends, indicate the continuing appeal of a form of individualism that is no longer wholly accurate or useful, but that still underpins a national fantasy of freedom from social control.
Customer Reviews:
Correction........2005-04-11
This is merely a response to counteract the review given by the only other reviewer of this book.
"Epistomonical" is not a word. I think there was a gesture at "epistomological." But not to nitpick...
This book is an exploration of the way paranoia in post-WWII America functions, specifically citing literary case studies. It is not concerned with reconciling conspiracy theories with mainstream historical accounts, or anything of that nature.
In the author's own words, "this book is concerned with a broad cultural phenomenon, a pervasive set of anxieties about the way technologies, social organizations, and communication systems may have reduced human autonomy and uniqueness."
And the way "conspiracy theory, paranoia, and anxiety about human agency, in other words, are all part of the paradox in which a supposedly individualist culture conserves its individualism by continually imaging it to be in immminent peril."
It is not a book of conspiratorial intrigue. It is, however, academic. Boring? No. Just academic (is there a difference? sometimes...sometimes not). The "trite and utter nonsense" and "pseudoscientific" quality of the book results from exhaustively situating paranoia and conspiracy with the work of Saussure, Althusser, Foucault, Freud, Lacan, Baudrillard, Derrida and a host of other post-modern/structural thinkers and other conspiracy theory scholars. So i guess it really depends on your understanding/appreciation for their work. And familiarity/love of post-modern fiction--which is really what the book is about anyway.
I'm not really here to recommend this book--just to give it a somewhat fair representation.
Thanks for your time.
Pseudoepistemonical, and, did I mention boring?.......2003-06-16
Classic case where I'm forced to give one star because Amazon doesnt offer the option of giving "minus stars".
You would think (and i certainly fell for it) that with the topic such as the one this book deals with you would have a tremendous reading ahead of you, or at least, a very good shot at one.
Not even close. Melley, the author, takes this juicy issue and devoids it of all its substance. He goes on a tiring, ultraboring diatribe made up of wooden language and a pseudoscientific approach and by the time you reach (if you manage) page 50 you're about to quit and go watch some paint dry. I quit about 100 pages after that, but only because i spent money on this and i wanted to at least go as far as i could possibly tolerate it.
This author deals with conspiracies as if they dont, offhand, exist, as if it's a given that it's all the product of paranoiacs and dellusionals and based on this assumption which he doesnt bother anywhere to explain he goes on to a ride of incredible trite and utter nonsense employing psychology and sociology thinking that makes it all sound plausible and argumentative.
This, of course, doesnt cut it.
If you want to examine the culture of conspiracy theories, and what's more, show that it is all indeed paranoia, you would have to take the high profile theories and take them apart for what they are, or what you want to show that they are.
Like the JFK conspiracy theory for example. Melley cant seem to be bothered with the tons of evidence available anywhere from Jim Garrison's book to other books as well and websites for good measure that show that the official theory is a joke. Nope. It's all paranoia, paranoia, paranoia, and if you dont believe mr. Melley it is very possible you're paranoid too.
This is exactly how this book builds up, literally on thin air, with extremely weak arguments and with an approach that a CIA agent would be proud of if he'd written such a book.
While it is a fact that there IS a strong paranoia factor involved in the conspiracy theory culture, it is also a FACT that many conspiracy theories are not "theories". Anybody with a serious interest in history will attest to that.
And that is exactly my point. Since conspiracy theories and their analysis involve a good backround grasp of history spend your money on some other book. The author of this one seems to have a very poor understanding as well as knowledge of history and he'll waste your time like there's no tomorrow. If you anyway think in the lines of this book you dont need to read it anyway. Just watch the news every day, rest assured you're being told the truth and go to sleep. Applying sciences to build up a nonsensical theory is an old trick in itself and a poor one at that.
Back to my paint-drying watching...
Book Description
This holiday season, good little citizens should look under their Mandatory Seasonal Happiness Tree for The Mutant Experience by new recruit R. Eric Reuss. This 64-page sourcebook for all things mutant-y includes new cool powers (Speed, Pouches, Creeping Madness, Forgettable), new utterly useless powers and lots of setting information, style tips and tables. The Mutant Experience teaches Paranoia players how to spit acid, control gravity or light or magnetism, stretch, bounce, scream and emit a nauseating vapour. Who doesn't want that? Don't grow a second head without it!
Customer Reviews:
High Spy Review .......2006-03-24
Thaxton was recently enlisted in the Union Army when his regiment was called to the battlefield. He barely had any skill or practice with a gun so he was forced to pick up the techniques along the way. His generals showed him the way and put him in the most dangerous job of all - the aerial observations. The objective of aerial observation was to simply map down enemy forces from the air view. Thaxton began as a private and was promoted to Lieutenant within weeks for his amazing skill and accomplishments. Thaxton was in the air on his hot air balloon mapping down enemy lines when all of the sudden the Confederates made a surprise attack and forced the Union lines to retreat leaving Thaxton behind enemy lines. Thaxton was completely astonished to find himself being lowered from the air and into Confederate hands. Throughout the rest of the story, Thaxton was imprisoned and escapes with a few others and journeys back to the Union lines. This story was vividly described and well written, great characters, and an excellent plot.
This book was very well written and adventurous from its details and descriptions of actions occurring throughout the story. The battles and fights were well described so I could imagine exactly what was going on. The imagery was designed perfectly just so the reader could be aware of what was happening. The first battle of the book was set in a field but later changed to the woods so even the settings changed from scene to scene which was a twist.
Characters in this book were described very well also. They physical traits and how they acted were both clearly stated for all characters. That showed me what to expect out of each and every character for what they might do later on in the story. Given how one character acted I guessed what he would do next such as Thaxton would run away but the author always changed it so this time Thaxton didn't run away. Some characters like Red, were described as being dangerous and clever so I assumed he would come up with a plan of escape and that was exactly what he did. Red constructed the plan for escape with Thaxton and a few others.
The plot to this book was obviously thought out for a while by the author as he showed it in his work. The plot was about a kid that gets captured and escapes from a prisoner of war camp and tries to get back to his lines but encounters several problems along the way. One of these problems is that he meets his cousin that looks exactly like him. His cousin takes Thaxton as an enemy although his cousin is a double spy and works for the Union and the Confederates. Thaxton's cousin challenges him to a duel and Thaxton wins by pure luck. As Thaxton continues on his journey to his Union lines, he meets his dying uncle. His uncle leaves Thaxton with his extremely large estate and fortune.
High Spy was a very good book that I found interesting and exciting. The author kept me guessing what would happen next after every page. This book had an amazing plot that was unique, unlike any other book I've read before. I would recommend it to all readers that favor action and adventure.
-k hurdle
Excelent.......2006-01-01
With the introduction of a new character, the entire Spy High universe gets an overhaul. We learn about another school, social roles begin to change and the truth about Johnathan Deverauxe is revealed to us. Also, the elements of scinece fiction really take off here. A.J. Butcher said, "The best part of writing science fiction is that if you need something, you can just make it up." We continue to see teh change of the kids as they become young adults. This book starts their second and last year of training.
Spy High Mission 4: The Paranoia Plot. Review by Eli.......2005-06-08
I have recently read the Paranoia Plot, by AJ Butcher. I think it was an amazing book. This was about the Bond Team, a team of teens at Spy High, who are in training to carry out the will of Mr. Devraux, the founder of Spy High. In the last book, Jake's girlfriend and teammate Jen falls in the line of duty, in this case stopping a gang leader named Talon. The team gets a new member, Bex, and ... well, if I said anything else, I would give away the story. It was very well writen (no mistakes), and it had a capturing plot. When Bond Team found out the plot, I felt what they felt. I laughed with Bex at Eddie's attempts to win her heart. I felt relieved when the good guys finally won out. It was a wonderful book, and it held my interest to the end. I gave it five stars, and I think if you read it you will agree that it earns every one.
Like a video game inside a book!.......2005-01-26
Devereaux Academy is a top secret training school for young secret agents. But the kids call it Spy High. The story opens with the Bond Team -- Lori, Ben, Jake, Eddie, and Cally -- returning to Spy High from a break, yet still reeling from the death of their teammate, Jennifer at the hands of Dr. Frankenstein on a previous mission. For that reason, they don't exactly accept Bex, their new recruit with open arms. It's not her spiked green hair, or body piercings, or even her big attitude that makes them suspicious. It's the sabotage of Eddie's SkyBike during practice. And the booby trap that springs up for Lori and Ben in the Gun Run training scenario. Then Cally's cyber-cradle malfunctions nearly suffocating her. When the Bond Team members find out that Bex lied about her background and she's sneaking around the campus late at night, they think she might be a double agent. They take their concerns to Senior Tutor Elmore Grant but he dismisses them. The Bond Team are on their own. Not only do they have to get to the bottom of the mischief at Spy High, but they are just as determined to uncover Bex's true identity.
"The Paranoia Plot" is the 4th book in the Spy High series. While it's helpful to have read previous books in the series, it's not necessary to the understanding of the story or characters. This book is loaded with fast-paced action and enough plot twists to keep thinking readers on their toes. With fun, futuristic props like shock blasters, space-spheres, holograms, and clones, Spy High reads like a video game inside a book.
Copyright (c) 2005 by Peggy Tibbetts
Book Description
Combining the insights of a gifted research scientist with vivid tales that are usually the realm of the novelist, Dr. Ronald Siegel lets his readers experience the suspicion, terror, and rage that possess the mind of the paranoid. This is the first book to investigate the actual experience of paranoia and to demonstrate that under the right conditions -- drugs or deprivation, for example -- anyone can be driven into that state. And indeed, eight million Americans already have been.
The paranoid inhabits a different realm of being, one that tilts the world ever so slightly. The senses detect these differences and sound mental alarms. Delusions and hallucinations feed on each other, flourishing with amazing speed. The paranoid becomes locked in a new mode of thinking -- viewing life as from a cell.
In a dozen case studies, Dr. Siegel follows his patients into the shadow lands where paranoia flourishes -- drug addiction, prison, organized crime, and terrorism. He introduces us to mild cases where there is only a vague sense that something is out there stalking, to those with apocalyptic visions so intense that they shake the foundations of an entire community. We meet the old woman who hears her teeth whispering, the beautiful ballet dancer who falls in love with a shadow, and the cocaine addict for whom the invasion of imaginary bugs was strong enough to kill. This intrepid journey through the mind's dark corridors ends with a reflective coda exploring the suicide of Ernest Hemingway, and there is no better guide than Dr. Ronald Siegel.
Customer Reviews:
Well, the cover art is really great!.......2007-08-12
I am a big fan of case study books when it comes to topics like depression, paranoia and schizophrenia having suffered from the first like a lot of people and having a very close friend that suffers from the last.
Maybe it's the fact that I've read many of these types of books that makes me feel like Whispers just wasn't that great.
This book was short but could have been much shorter. I'm no stranger to long books and the length is not something I consider when seeking out new things to read but reading Whispers over the course of a work week made it feel as if it dragged on.
The writing style is interesting, not dull at all but at times I got the feeling that the author wrote this book to stroke his own ego for being so willing to put himself into potential dangerous situations to learn about the individuals more than to tell a story or to explore and explain with words the world of paranoia that some people live in.
Maybe I just expected the wrong thing when I picked this up? I can accept that but in my opinion there are many other books about this subject that are more rewarding to read regardless of if you are looking for clinical date and cold hard facts OR shock value.
Yeah, right *rolls eyes*.......2006-03-10
12 case studies, into 12 paranoid people. However, it doesn't take the most critical of thinkers to realize that Siegel may be embellishing the facts a little.
Don't take my word for it read the book, and you may find some of his stories to be a little far fetched. Like the last story of the book (Paranoid Express) in which Siegel locks himself in a train cart, snorts cocaine, pisses in his pants, and suffers blistering heat, for three days, just to experience what Mario N. goes through in his final days before being arrested. The unbelievable part, is that the police go along with Siegel's little experiment. They bring him food, change audio tapes, and deliver messages in the same way they did with Mario N. for three days. I don't think there is a federal government alive who would go to such great lengths to accommodate a professor who wanted to get coked up to prove that a murderer was paranoid at the time.
Don't get me wrong "Whispers" is an interesting read and a page turner, but they way Siegel ties his cases together like the game "six degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon", is a little worrisome. You have this little nagging feeling in the back of your brain that says "if he went to such great lengths to embellish how the 12 paranoids were connected or what he did to understand their pain", then maybe he embellished their cases as well.
If that doesn't bother you, then by all means get the book.
A real page-turner. Not boring at all..........2005-06-26
This book is so exciting that it is hard to believe it is non-fiction at times. The author covers many different cases with literary mastery usually reserved for fiction writers. There are stories of Hitler's brain in a jar, crazy cokehead hallucinations, psycho killers and more. This is not your standard acedemic (read boring) case study. I read this book from cover to cover in about a week, very hard to put down. It is written for the layman, but in a way that it is excessible to anyone (including professionals in the field). I would recommend this book to anyone with even a passing interest in abnormal psychology.
Notes From The Underground.......2002-10-01
Paranoia starts with a whisper on the other side of the door. You stop and you hear movement and whispers on the other side of the door. Your hair stands on end.
This is the trigger. Everything else is amplification. The car that parks at midnight outside your window and the car doors opening and closing and the footsteps enter the building and go upstairs into the apartment directly above you!
And the footsteps above you follow you wherever you go. To the washroom, the kitchen, the living room. The footsteps above follow you.
In the morning you hear voices outside and you are certain that you will be jumped and killed by the people waiting for you to come out.
SO YOU CRINGE ON THE FLOOR BY THE WINDOW LISTENING TO THE VOICES AND THE FOOTSTEPS STALKING YOU, DARING YOU TO COME OUT!
AND YOU HIDE AND TREMBLE.
This is paranoia. This is what this book talks about. I have been there.
Journey Into Paranoia.......2001-10-29
"Whispers: The Voices of Paranoia" is hands-down one of the best books that I have ever read. Dr. Ronald Siegel, Ph.D., a forensic psychopharmacologist, is an incredible writer and an even better story-teller. His journey into the paranoid mind is enlightening, vivid, and dangerous. As Dr. Siegel unfolds each case study, the reader is thrown into the suspense, analyzing and foreshadowing the devious behavioral manifestations of the paranoid mind. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in psychiatry, clinical neuropsychology, forensic psychology, or simply a good, non-fiction suspense trip.
You will finish this book in less than a week. I simply could not put it down and have since gone on to order all of Dr. Siegel's books.
Books:
- The Three Battlegrounds: An In-Depth View of the Three Arenas of Spiritual Warfare: The Mind, the Church and the Heavenly Places
- The Woman and The Raven
- The Zion Covenant: Vienna Prelude/Prague Counterpoint/Munich Signature/Jerusalem Interlude/Danzig Passage/Warsaw Requiem (Zion Chronicles)
- Tom Brown's Field Guide to Wilderness Survival (Survival School Handbooks / Tom Brown, Jr)
- Tomb Raider: Legend: The Complete Official Guide
- Typography 27 (Typography)
- Understanding Terrorism: Challenges, Perspectives, and Issues
- Unorthodox Chess Openings (Cardoza Publishing's Essential Opening Repertoire Series)
- Watching Baseball Smarter: A Professional Fan's Guide for Beginners, Semi-experts, and Deeply Serious Geeks
- Where Is Baby's Belly Button?
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Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us
In Sheep's Clothing: Understanding and Dealing with Manipulative People
Emotional Vampires: Dealing With People Who Drain You Dry
Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work
Why Is It Always About You? : The Seven Deadly Sins of Narcissism
