J.R. Slosar and Michael A. Moodian: Better care for mentally ill would help prisons, budget
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Better care for mentally ill would help prisons
September 3rd, 2010Book Review in June Issue of Choice
September 3rd, 2010The recession, political divisions, and cultural confusion over what one needs to live a good life have made quite the perfect storm for most Americans in the first decade of the 21st century. Heretofore, Americans had been happy with excess, but now what? How does one make sense of it all and assess the material and psychological damage?
Slosar (a clinical psychologist in private practice) uses the tools of his trade to offer an accounting, a major theme of which is narcissism, the obsessive infatuation with sating desires without regard to the needs or well-being of others. The problem–besides those pesky hens coming home to roost–is that forms of narcissism are widespread in the US culture and economic system, as reflected in private life, health care, and love of digital toys, among other things. To illustrate his claims, Slosar switches back and forth between illustrative client case studies and media-based examples of bad behavior (think corporate greed, shameless celebrities, reality television), a method that sometimes works and sometimes does not.
Part psychology, part political analysis, and part polemics, this book makes clear the difficulty of shifting from “Generation Me” to “Generation We.” Summing Up: Recommended. General readers only.
– D. S. Dunn, Moravian College
California Vote 2010 – KMPC TV 8/2/2010
August 6th, 2010
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Answers for the Family on LA TALK RADIO
July 30th, 2010Culture of Excess Gets Some Great Exposure
June 14th, 2010The culture of excess has be listed on a number of major news and media sites.
Book Review by PNHP’s Don McCanne, MD
May 20th, 2010Physicians For A National Health Program’s (PNHP) Don McCanne, MD has written a great review of the book.
http://www.pnhp.org/news/2010/may/jr-slosars-the-culture-of-excess
Eric Hoffer da Vinci Eye Award
May 20th, 2010Book News Reviews
April 26th, 2010Economists, political scientists, and business experts have taken the lead in producing the many “we have only ourselves to blame” books that document our current economic woes. This book, written by a clinical psychologist offers a different perspective, which makes it stand out in this now-crowded genre of literature. Slosar provides an interesting examination of the psychological and social influences that affect us as a culture, setting up circumstances that made our clamor for money outpace our collective common sense. The prose is thoughtful, but not necessarily sanguine that we might not make the same mistakes again if given a chance.
Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Taming the Cubicle Jungle, Cultural Excess
April 24th, 2010Video interview on the wonderful Taming the Cubical Jungle with host Donna Scimia and Jay Slosar.
KPFK Radio Interview with Maria Armoudian
April 24th, 2010Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
