What did Moses, Van Gogh, Lewis Carroll, and Dostoyevsky have in common? Quite possibly temporal lobe epilepsy, according to this fascinating report by freelance writer LaPlante (The Atlantic, Yankee, etc.). Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is the most common form of epilepsy among adults. Its seizures bring hallucinations, dreamy states, bizarre feelings, and involuntary actions resembling the symptoms of psychiatric disease, and the personalities of its sufferers are frequently marked by an intense interest in religion and morality, a compulsion to write or draw, altered sexuality, aggression, and hypersociability. LaPlante traces the history of the disorder from its early definition by a 19th- century English neurologist to present-day efforts to understand and treat it with drugs and/or surgery. She chronicles its effects on three pseudonymous patients: Charlie, a lawyer whose first seizure occurred when he was in his 50s; Jill, a personnel director in her 30s whose life has been drastically affected by the onset of TLE; and Gloria, a middle-aged woman who's suffered from TLE all her life and had been treated for a myriad of psychiatric disorders prior to the diagnosis of TLE at age 37. What makes TLE especially intriguing are the clues it offers to biological bases of creativity, spirituality, and—on a less positive note—violence. Moreover, because TLE crosses the boundaries between psychiatry and neurology, research on it holds promise for a better understanding of the physiological causes of mental illness. LaPlante's descriptions of the human brain are wonderfully concrete, her historical research is well presented, and her empathy for TLE's victims is clear. A well-done study. (Line drawings—not seen)
Pub Date: Aug. 25, 1993
ISBN: 0-06-016673-8
Page Count: 256
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1993
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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