book data
25 ratings, 3.72 average rating, 13 reviews
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published
July 31st 2008
by Viking Adult
binding
Hardcover, 416 pages
isbn
0670019429
(isbn13: 9780670019427)
description
An epic novel about family secrets and the consequences of ambition
William Friedrich, an ambitious professor of psychology at Yale ...more
William Friedrich, an ambitious professor of psychology at Yale ...more
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 68)
Read in August, 2008
A rich story of parents and children, and the question of why things happen as they do - the characters intertwined inextricably with man's apparently relentless quest to fix ourselves with chemicals.
William Friedrich’s family is relentlessly stalked by the not-so-friendly ghost of Casper, a psychotic young man that took part in a pharmaceutical study developed and conducted by Friedrich in the early 1950s, who subsequently kills Friedrich’s study partner and whose presence continue t...more
William Friedrich’s family is relentlessly stalked by the not-so-friendly ghost of Casper, a psychotic young man that took part in a pharmaceutical study developed and conducted by Friedrich in the early 1950s, who subsequently kills Friedrich’s study partner and whose presence continue t...more
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Pharmakon is the fictional story of William Friedrich, a psychologist and early researcher in the field of psychopharmacology, and his family of psychos. I really enjoyed this book for many reasons. It's an interesting and engrossing story, and is quite well written... one of those books I really never wanted to put down each time I would start reading. It spans the period from the early 1950s trough the mid-1990s, so it coincides with my lifetime so far, or most of it, and so it contain...more
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Read in October, 2008
The cover of an epic often depicts the founding member of the new dynasty. Pharmakon by Dirk Wittenborn isn't an epic but it draws on some of the conventions. With that in mind, the cover shows Gray, an African Gray parrot whose unexpected appearance in the mulberry tree at the Friedrich household sets in motion a number of events that will forever change the family.
Of course the parrot isn't the family patriarch. That honor falls to William Friedrich, a psychologist who for personal reasons...more
Of course the parrot isn't the family patriarch. That honor falls to William Friedrich, a psychologist who for personal reasons...more
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Read in October, 2008
So from this book I have learned a lot about myself, but mostly that my taste in books has changed. For that I have Margueya to thank. Thank you Marg ( no more sappy love story, friendship books for me). Bring on the heavy depressing stuff!
This book was super! It is well written, a fascinating story that keeps you thinking and engaged the whole time. He explores a lot of human psychology in a very real way throughout the story and with different characters. He gives the characters insight int...more
This book was super! It is well written, a fascinating story that keeps you thinking and engaged the whole time. He explores a lot of human psychology in a very real way throughout the story and with different characters. He gives the characters insight int...more
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9 comments
Read in November, 2008
I would give this one a 3.5 if I could. It certainly kept my interest and was a good book, hands down. The ending left someting to be desired and it certainly had some strangeness to it. The book is head-y at times, so not a beach read, but if you are interested in psychology, and the way the mind works, this is a good book to read. It is very interesting and well read.
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Read in November, 2008
I would have given this book a 4star rating but for the unsatisfying ending. There were too many loose ends left. Otherwise it was a fairly good read.
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Read in November, 2008
A thoroughly enjoyable read. Wittenborn writes with a light touch about the deep subject of recreational drug use, both the legal and illegal kind. Should we be happy? What flaws should be left uncorrected, and what "improvements" should be avoided? Wittenborn writes in a serious but far from heavy-handed manner, avoiding both satire and pedantry.
There are a few minor flaws in the plotting, maybe. I would have liked to gain some more closure on one of the central characters, whose ...more
There are a few minor flaws in the plotting, maybe. I would have liked to gain some more closure on one of the central characters, whose ...more
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Read in October, 2008
This is one of those like it or hate it books. If your are interested in the history of psychotherapy via drug therapy, this book is a good insight into that world, beginning in the 1950's and ending in the 90's, it follows the career choices of a psychatrist at Yale and his research. His research changes his family forever, damning or saving them....well....
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Read in November, 2008
I hated the ending! This book was really interesting because it gave a fictionalized account of using drug therapy to treat depression and psychological disorders. However, it failed to answer all the questions that it raised.
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This book reminds of being back in the 60s. I feel that I am eaves-dropping on a Timothy Leary-type character. Happy drugs from the Amazon (not the bookseller) set in the academic halls of Yale. Fun and fascinating.
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I found the first half of this novel about an early researcher of anti-depressants incredibly engaging, though found it dropped off a little toward the end. Still, I recommend it.
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A novel about how the best of intentions--the wish to prescribe happiness--can leave a deep, dark shadow over one man's life and that of his family as well.
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