Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Review of Instaread Summary of "Freedom My Book of Firsts" by Jaycee Dugard



Review of

Instaread Summary of Freedom My Book of Firsts by Jaycee Dugard 

Five out of five stars

Jaycee Dugard was abducted when she was eleven by Phillip and Nancy Garrido and held captive for eighteen years. During that time, she gave birth to two daughters, the original purpose for the abduction was for her to be a sex slave. Once she was released, she was physically an adult but had not passed through the socially awkward teen years. Therefore, at the age of thirty, she found it necessary to learn the things that one normally does when going from a pre-teen to an adult in American society.
 According to the summary, the book is very positive in tone, there is very little recrimination or expressed bitterness towards her captors. Humor is used to describe some of the unusual circumstances where Jaycee is learning how to do things such as drive a car, shop for goods and cook wholesome and delicious food.
 One of the main themes of the book is the role that pets and other animals can have in therapy and recovery from trauma. While several animal types are mentioned, the emphasis is on horses. The value of having close relationships with animals is not news to people like myself that spent time living on a farm. Yet, it is an important lesson that always is worthy of relearning.
 Dr. Rebecca Bailey is described as Jaycee’s primary therapist, so it is clear that there has been a great deal of work done in re-integrating Jaycee into the world. That is mentioned in the summary along with Jaycee’s work in developing mechanisms for people like herself that need to adjust to society after years of being isolated from the world.
 This is a great summary, for it gives the reader enough of the book to understand that while Jaycee will always have to live with her experiences, they are not controlling her life and what she does from now on. 

This book was made available for free for review purposes. 

Review of Instaread Summary of "Feeling Good The New Mood Therapy" by David D. Burns



Review of

Instaread Summary of Feeling Good The New Mood Therapy by David D. Burns 

Four out of five stars

Despite the title, there is really nothing new in the book that is being described in the summary. Originally published in 1980, the premise put forward by Burns is that you can do a great deal towards curing your depression if you better manage your negative thoughts and moods. Certainly, if it works, such an approach is preferable to medication. However, with advances in the understanding of brain chemistry, the new knowledge that depression can be caused by chemical imbalances renders the tactic of curing yourself by keeping your thoughts properly aligned dubious. The vast majority of these new discoveries have taken place after 1980.
 The twelve key takeaways could be used to describe the contents of a large number of the self-help books that have been published over the last several decades. There is a bit of oversimplification. For example, the first one is:

“All emotional states, good and bad, are first preceded by thoughts.” 

This is of course a logical tautology, all functioning human brains contain thoughts. To be useful, it should have a suffix attached that is something like “... that drive the person to the next emotional state.” 

Key takeaway 11 is:

“Periodic sadness is normal; depression is abnormal.”

This is again a statement of an obvious fact.
 Most of the data put forward in the summary in support of the approach taken by Burns is in the form of anecdotes about specific individuals. While such examples can be uplifting, they cannot be used to argue to the general population. What works for one person is generally not transferable to others, at least in the achieving of similar success. Human brains and personalities are just too complicated for that.
 From this summary, the independent minded reader will conclude that the approach taken by Burns and also enunciated by many others will help some people and is of course unlikely to cause any harm. However, it has limitations, the most likely people to be cured are those that are only suffering from a bout of periodic sadness.  

This book was made available for free for review purposes. 

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Review of Instaread Summary of "Truly Madly Guilty" by Liane Moriarty



Review of

Instaread Summary of Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty 

Five out of five stars

 When you complete the frenetic description of the plot, your main thought is that there is just too much here for a single book. The main characters possess emotional angst run amok, the primary event is the very near death by drowning of a two-year-old in a fountain during a barbeque where all the adults seem to be caught up in themselves.
 The author of the summary so well expresses my thoughts of the book that I cannot improve on them. Here are some passages from the “Author’s style” section.
“From its romantic-sounding title to its gimmick-heavy plot, ‘Truly Madly Guilty’ suffers from trappings that don’t suit its subject matter.”
“Liane Moriarty’s decent prose, well-observed characters, and subtle portrait of a female friendship are all overshadowed by her heavy-handed plotting.”
 “Moriarty’s technical tricks feel forced and are so overused that they almost read as parody.”
 While it may seem lazy to create a review that is largely quotes from the summary, when you cannot do better, it is best not to try.

This book was made available for free for review purposes.