Dark Nights of the Soul by Thomas Moore

 Psychotherapist Thomas Moore, a former Catholic monk, expressed some unusual ideas about depression in his book Dark Nights of the Soul. I feel I should preface my comments with a caveat. If you have clinical depression, or think you might, please seek help from an appropriate professional in psychology, counseling or medicine. If you need medication, take it. I think you can undertake the kind exploration that Moore suggests without abandoning traditional therapies, especially if you need them to mitigate extreme symptoms that threaten your life and health.

 Moore isn’t necessarily talking about clinical depression, though he doesn’t exclude it. He finds the term depression limiting. If someone is depressed, they have a disease and there is a treatment for it. It is a matter of curing and dealing with symptoms.

As an alternative to this approach, Moore focuses on the opportunities in depression, persistent dark moods and hard times—dark nights may take any of these forms—as opportunities to mature, grow and heal the soul. Instead of rushing to get by depression and get better, sit with it, explore it and learn from it.  It could be a calling from your truest self to examine your life and become deeper, more engaged person. Instead of a curse, the dark night may turn out to be a gift.

Moore draws heavily on religion and mythology. He also discusses dreams. In the mode of Carl Jung, he sees value in symbols to illuminate what is going on in your life, as well as the value of symbolic and ritual action.

For instance, he draws a model from myth for the experience of depression. It begins with a separation or departure. One feels cut off, alone or isolated, especially from normal life. In a myth, this leaving of normal life is the beginning of an adventure. The mythic adventurer enters a new world, often and underworld, where he is challenged and gains a new perspective. These challenges help him discover who he really is. It is helpful to be able to move back and forth between the underworld and night to the upper world and day, to be able to benefit from the darkness without being consumed by it. In the end, the adventurer returns to his normal life, but it is not always easy because he is changed by his experiences in the underworld. Hopefully the lessons of his dark night well help him integrate his new life with the best of his old home.

Perspective seems to be one of the big benefits of a dark night. Everything looks different in the dark. You can reevaluate what things mean to you, the seeming trash that is truly a treasure and the seeming treasure that is truly worthless. It's a chance to clear out the clutter. It pushes you to accept that the darkness is real and part of you. Because the underworld is essentially your inner life, you can find by exploring it those places that are abandoned, ignored, neglected or run over roughshod by your outer life.

Each chapter takes on the exploration of various aspects of life that may bring about a dark night. These include love, sex, marriage, family, art, beauty, anger, disease and aging.

These journeys into darkness need not be undertaken alone. Sometimes you need professional help. The honesty and vulnerability needed to properly explore the dark parts of yourself could help you be a more open person and deepen your relationship with others. To succeed in the journey, it helps to have the attitude toward yourself of a graceful healer participating in your own life, and that attitude can make you receptive to the healing grace of others and your role as a helper of others.

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in

The Beethoven Factor by Paul Pearsall

The Last Self-Help Book You'll Ever Need by Paul Pearsall

The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck

Moore, Thomas. Dark Nights of the Soul: A Guide to Finding Your Way through Life’s Ordeals. New York: Gotham Books, 2004.

Happiness is a Choice by Frank B. Minirth and Paul D Meier

I’ve been reading a lot about anxiety and depression lately, and it has led me to some older books, such as Happiness is a Choice by psychiatrists Frank B. Minirth and Paul D. Meier. The book appears to be written for a mixed audience of therapists who may be treating patients with depression and people who may pick up the book as a self-help guide. If depression is affecting your life, I recommend you talk to your physician or reach out for appropriate counseling; there are effective therapies and in some cases drugs may be appropropriate.

The book may be broken into three major parts. The first deals with the symptoms of depression. Though it is fairly widely know now (thanks largely to drug advertising), it was probably less known in 1978 when this book was published, that there are physical symptoms to depression. Feeling bad emotionally can make us feel bad physically and vice-versa.

The second part deals with the causes of depression. These are particularly stress and trauma. We all face trauma in life, and it does not have to be “major” to result in depression. We all grieve losses, get angry over the way we or others are mistreated, face dysfunction in relationships and countless other stresses and traumas. Any of us may suffer a blow that leads to depression.

“Who gets depressed? At some period of life, nearly everyone does!” Frank B. Minirth and Paul D. Meier, Happiness is a Choice

Finally, they deal with the treatment of depression. Much of Minirth and Meier’s advice deals with thinking and relationships. Therapy may occur at a counselor’s office, but healing takes place in everyday life, thoughts and relationships.

The book also contains appendices that deal with things that may be of more interest to therapist. These include a few very brief case studies, a short chapter on the biology of depression and additional information on various types of treatment.

Minirth and Meier are known as Christian counselors who discuss faith alongside medicine. This book is no exception. The authors reference the Bible and draw lessons from it. Though many may find useful advice in this book, I think it would especially appeal to Christian who are seeking help that is consistent with their faith. Their advice on overcoming depression and anxiety is rooted in their religion.

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in

Anxious for Nothing by Max Lucado

The Mindful Way through Depression by Mark Williams, John Teasdale, Zindal Segal & Joh Kabat-Zinn

Rewire Your Anxious Brain by Catherine M. Pittman & Elizabeth M. Karle

The Solution by Lucinda Bassett

Think 4:8 by Tommy Newberry & Lyn Smith

12 “Christian” Beliefs That Can Drive You Crazy by Henry Cloud & John Townsend

Minirth, Frank B., and Paul D. Meier. Happiness is a Choice: A Manual on the Symptoms, Causes and Cures of Depression. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker House, 1978.

The Healthiest Diet on the Planet by John McDougal

I previously reviewed a couple of books on low-carb diets. Perhaps it is time for a dissenting opinion. Physician John McDowell argues for a low-fat vegan diet in The Healthiest Diet on the Planet.

The crux of the argument is the inversion of that made by some made by low-carb advocates, especially those who promote nearly carnivorous paleo diets. McDougall proposes that the primary diet of our ancient ancestors was plant-based, and that especially included energy-providing starches; he even refers to his picture of the ideal diet as “starchitarian.” He points to those parts of the world where people still eat their traditional diets and have low occurrence of obesity and associated diseases. They eat a lot of whole grains or potatoes along with vegetables and fruit; they eat little meat. It makes sense to me that this would be a natural diet for humans. In much of the world, foods from plants would have been much more widely available most of the year with much less effort and danger. Meat was probably a great calorie supplement to an otherwise lean diet, but it would not have been a reliable source of food for every meal, nor is it amenable to storage or preservation.

Another appealing aspect of the McDougall plan is it simplicity. In The Healthiest Diet on the Planet, he offers a green-yellow-red light approach to what to eat, what to eat with caution and what to avoid. The diet consists mainly of starchy foods: whole grains, potatoes, sweet potatoes and beans. It also includes vegetables and some fruit. Some foods, such as nuts, avocadoes and fruit juices, can be eaten in small amounts; they are a concern because they include a lot of fat or sugar. Finally, avoid animal products (meat, eggs and dairy) and extracted vegetable oils. McDougall admits that it is unusual of natural human diets to be completely devoid of meat, so I suspect it would be okay for someone to eat meat once in a while.

I haven’t tried it any more than I have tried a low-carb diet. It certainly seems easier. It is also likely to be less expensive.

Like many diet books, this one includes recipes. Coauthor Mary McDougal contributed the recipes.

McDougal, John, and Mary McDougal. The Healthiest Diet on the Planet: Why the Foods You Love—Pizza, Pancakes, Potatoes, Pasta, and More—are the Solution to Preventing Disease and Looking and Feeling Your Best. New York: HarperOne, 2016.

The Apparitionist by Peter Manseau

Photography was introduced to the United States at around the same time that a new religion was born in the nation. Spiritualism promised a connection to the dead in their realm through human mediums, and some thought photography might capture physical manifestations of spirits. Peter Manseau tells the story of the first spirit photographer in The Apparitionist.

The man who captured the first supposed spirit photograph was an amateur at the time. William Mumler thought he had made in error in cleaning the glass on which the photonegative was captured when a faint image appeared in a self-portrait he shot in 1862. He was using the photo studio owned by Hannah Stuart. The married photographer, soon to be widowed and soon after that to be Mrs. Mumler, was a Spiritualist, and she convinced him that the image was not an error, but an apparition. The photos caught the attention of the Spiritualist press, first in the New York-based Herald of Progress, then in Mumler’s hometown of Boston in the Beacon of Light, which published the address of the Stuart studio.

Soon the studio was producing many spirit photographs; they even took orders by mail from across the country. Bostonian Spiritualists compared photos and found evidence that Mumler was faking the images. Discredited, the Mumler’s moved to New York to quietly offer spirit photographs again. Their practice there let to criminal prosecution in 1869. Photographers knew of ways to produce such images, but no investigators could figure out what Mumler was doing. Though the judge gave did not suggest the photos actually captured images of spirits, he rejected the prosecution’s case because it did not adequately support the charges of fraud and similar crimes.

Even with such tepid vindication, the atmosphere in New York was too hot for the Mumlers, so they returned to Boston. Though Mumler continued to take spirit photos, he had developed a much deeper understanding of the art and science of photography. He developed a process that allowed for the direct reproduction of photos on newsprint; founded the Photo-Electrotype Company of Boston and licensed his process to companies in other cities. This allowed newspapers and magazines to less expensively reproduce images without preparing an engraving first.

Manseau also discussed the development of photography in the United States after the art was introduced here. This includes American pioneers of photography such as Samuel Morse, also inventor of the telegraph, and Civil War battlefield photographers Matthew Brady and Alexander Gardner.

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in

The Age of Edison by Ernest Freeburg

Arthur & George by Julian Barnes

Billion Dollar Whale by Tom Wright and Bradley Hope

Buried Alive by Jan Bondeson

Chief Engineer by Erica Wagner

Empires of Light by Jill Jonnes

Enchantress of Numbers by Jennifer Chiaverini

The Explorer King by Robert Wilson

The Man Who Loved Books too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett

The Real World of Sherlock Holmes by Peter Costello

Scan Artist by Marcia Biederman

Super Attractor by Gabrielle Bernstein

Manseau, Peter. The Apparitionists: A Tale of Phantoms, Fraud, Photography, and the Man Who Captured Lincoln’s Ghost. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017.

New & Interesting Stuff April 23, 2021

 Comic Art in America by Stephen Becker

The 80/20 Manager by Richard Koch

500 Books Reviewed on Keenan’s Book Reviews

Get Your Sh*t Together by Sarah Knight

The How of Happiness by Sonja Lyubomirsky

Investigating Lois Lane by Tim Hanley

It’s Not Always Depression by Hilary Jacobs Hendel

Late Bloomers by Rich Karlgaard

Loserthink by Scott Adams

Metering for America by Alfred Leif

New Stuff June 3, 2020

Unimaginable by Jeremiah H. Johnston

Underground by Will Hunt

Comic Art in America by Stephen Becker

Cartoons did not originate in the United States, but Americans were innovative in the art, and its artists invented the newspaper comic strip and comic book. Stephen Becker wrote a survey of American comics of all types from their origins until his book was published in 1959: Comic Art in America.

Becker covers every type of cartoon in the book. Comic strips get a lot of attention because that is where a lot of the development occurred and gave rise to something distinctly American. Though comic strips are a thread throughout, Becker devotes chapters to editorial cartoons, single-panel humor and even animation.

Many of the comics Becker discusses are still published today, such as Beatle Bailey and Blondie. Others are well-known because of their former popularity or lasting influence: Krazy Kat, Terry and the Pirates, Flash Gordon. Others are largely forgotten, even if they were pioneers of their time that shaped the work of others or the popular taste. Fans of particular types of cartooning may notice omissions that seem glaring, at least in hindsight; the chapter on comic books makes no mention of Will Eisner, though perhaps his fame stems more form later work.

Of course, the intent was not to be exhaustive. It’s a single volume, not an encyclopedia. As a survey for a general audience, it works very well. At the time, it probably reminded readers of old favorites that had fallen out of print. It might introduce modern readers to those old masters for the first time. Necessarily it does not address some of the great work that came out after it was published; I suspect Becker would have been delighted by Bill Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes, as many of us are.

Becker was primarily a fiction writer. Comic Art in America is very informative, but it is not primarily an academic book. Neither does Becker come off as entirely fan-ish, though he certainly has the tone of someone who enjoys comics and finds them interesting, especially humor and editorial comics from newspapers and magazines. He mixes commentary with history and spices things up gossipy tidbits.

The book was published in a larger format to accommodate reproduction of comics that originally appeared in an even larger broadsheet newspaper. Though it has the look of a coffee table book, it is not dominated by images. The images are an accompaniment to the text. Even so, one can enjoy it for the comics reproduced in it, though many are of their time and may not make much sense without the context provided by Becker.

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in

American Splendor (Film)

Kirby by Mark Evanier

Miss Mizzou by J. B. Winter

The Spirit by Darwyn Cook

Why Comics? by Hilary Chute

Becker, Stephen. Comic Art in America: A Social History of the Funnies, the Political Cartoons, Magazine Humor, Sporting Cartoons and Animated Cartoons. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1959.

500 Books Reviewed on Keenan's Book Reviews

500 Books Reviewed on Keenan’s Book Reviews

I’ve posted reviews of 500 books on this blog. Here are links to the 50 most recent posts. Further down are links to more reviews.

First Time Reviews

A Mind for Numbers by Barbara A. Oakley

Anxious for Nothing by Max Lucado

Atomic Habits by James Clear

Become a Better You by Joel Osteen

The Beethoven Factor by Paul Pearsall

 

Bigger than Life by Marilyn Cannaday

Billion Dollar Whale by Tom Wright and Bradley Hope

The Boom by Russell Gold

Bored and Brilliant by Manoush Zomorodi

Chief Engineer by Erica Wagner

 

The Computers of Star Trek by Lois Gresh & Robert Weinberg

Contents Under Pressure by Sylvia F. Munson

Enchantress of Numbers by Jennifer Chiaverini

Essentialism by Greg McKeown

Feeding the Fire by Mark E. Eberhart

 

The Frackers by Gregory Zuckerman

Get Your Sh*t Together by Sarah Knight

The Girls of Atomic City by Denis Kiernan

God’s Equation by Amir Aczel

Good Naked by Joni B. Cole

Happiness is a Choice by Barry Neil Kaufman

 

Haunted Jefferson City by Janice Tremeear

The Instinct to Heal by David Servan-Schreiber

It’s Not Always Depression by Hilary Jacobs Hendel

The Johnstown Flood by David McCollough

Late Bloomers by Rich Karlgaard

Learn Python 3 the Hard Way by Zed A. Shaw

Lift by Daniel Kunitz

 

Living Low Carb by Johnny Bowden

Lost Connections by Hari Johnson

Loving in Flow by Susan K. Perry

Making the American Body by Jonathan Black

The Math Myth and Other STEM Delusions by Andrew Hacker

 

Metering for America by Alfred Leif

Mr. America by Mark Adams

Move Ahead with Possibility Thinking by Robert H. Schuller

Pascal’s Wager by James A. Connor

The Pleasure of Finding Things Out by Richard P. Feynman

Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction by Patricia Highsmith

 

Range by David Epstein

The Revenge of Analog by David Sax

Scan Artist by Marcia Biederman

Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour by Bryan Lee O'Malley

Smarter Faster Better by Charles Duhigg

 

Stat-Spotting by Joel Best

Super Attractor by Gabrielle Bernstein

Unimaginable by Jeremiah H. Johnston

Why We Get Fat and What to Do About It by Gary Taubes

Write Naked by Jennifer Probst

You are a Badass Every Day by Jen Sincero

 

Additional and Expanded Reviews

Atomic Habits by James Clear

The Introvert’s Way by Sophia Dembling

 

Continuation of list of 500 books reviewed

First 25 Reviews

Reviews 26-50

Reviews 51-75

Reviews 76-100

Reviews 101-150

Reviews 151-200

Reviews 201-250

Reviews 250-300

Reviews 301-350

Reviews 351-400

Reviews 401-450

Get Your Sh*t Together by Sarah Knight

The title of Sarah Knight’s book, Get Your Sh*t Together, suggests what is inside. There is cursing on practically every page. There is tongue-in-cheek humor. There is advice on how to set goals and achieve them.

If you’ve read many books on self-help, getting organized, setting goals and success, Knight’s recommendations won’t be new to you. However, many will find her style helpful and appealing. She writes with directness, simplicity and humor.

She has a take on motivation that you don’t see everywhere: focus on what annoys you. A lot of people advise that you conjure up a richly detailed vision of the life you want. That is hard. The vision can seem out of reach. You don’t have to imagine annoying things; they are right there bothering you. If you can do something to reduce the annoyance, you’ll want to, and if some series of steps will eliminate it, they’ll seem worth the effort. The life you want may reveal itself as you shed the annoying things you want to get rid of.

Once you have a goal (stop this annoying thing by taking some action), you need a plan that breaks into manageable steps. You’ll also need to set aside time to give your energy and attention to taking those steps. It also takes commitment to follow through.

Because it takes time to get things done, you may need to make time by spending less of it on other things. Knight discusses priorities. I’ve observed that the people who are the worst at having it together seem to have no priorities. If you can learn to spend more time on what is really important, and focus on it, you’ll be way ahead.

Knight’s book isn’t for everyone. The cursing starts in the title and doesn’t let up. However, I appreciate her brevity, simplicity and directness. The concepts are easy to grasp; the challenge is in implementing them.

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in

The Procrastination Equation by Piers Steel

Secrets You Keep from Yourself by Dan Neuharth

Succeed by Heidi Grant Halvorson

You are a Badass by Jen Sincero

Knight, Sarah. Get Your Sh*t Together: How to Stop Worrying About What You Should Do So You Can Finish What You Need to Do and Start Doing What You Want to Do. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2016.

You are a Badass Every Day by Jen Sincero

You Are a Badass Every Day is a companion to Jen Sincero’s two previous books, You are a Badass and You are a Badass at Making Money. While those books explained Sincero’s philosophy, advice and experiences, this book is a collection of related short readings and exercises.

 Each chapter can be read in a few minutes. That is Sincero’s intention. They are prompts to get you thinking and taking action. They are moments of encouragement to keep you on track toward your goals. She describes it as a “spiritual gym,” a way to exercise your mind, imagination and desire so you can grow stronger.

“Success isn’t static, it’s not one place, you don’t arrive at success, crack open a beer and call it a day. Success is a way of being and adapting and growing that gets easier the more you practice.”

-Jen Sincero, You Are a Badass Every Day

 Though Sincero calls for people to take action toward their goals, the real action is in the mind. As she puts it, “thoughts and things are the same.” Your reality is something you created. If you don’t like it, you can change it by getting a new perspective and setting off on a new path.

 If you read one of Sincereo’s other books and you were inspired by it, reading this book will likely give your motivation a boost. It might be a pick-me-up on its own, but I suspect the message will have more impact on a mind prepared by one of the other Badass books.

 If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in

The Secret by Rhonda Byrne

 Sincero, Jen. You Are a Badass Every Day. New York: Viking, 2018.