Exuberance: The Passion for Life
by Kay Redfield Jamison
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 159)
Read in January, 2005
i got this book in hardback the minute it came out. it's beautiful, and it makes me happy.
the psychology of happiness is becoming on one of the newest fields of research, and i think that's awesome. for so long, the field has focused on the depressing things, the crazy things, no one has thought to look at positive emotions and why they happen. which is ironic, in a way, because you would think if you could increase positive events/emotions in say, a depressed person's life, it would help t...more
the psychology of happiness is becoming on one of the newest fields of research, and i think that's awesome. for so long, the field has focused on the depressing things, the crazy things, no one has thought to look at positive emotions and why they happen. which is ironic, in a way, because you would think if you could increase positive events/emotions in say, a depressed person's life, it would help t...more
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Read in January, 2006
Although more scholarly than John D. Gartner's The Hypomanic Edge (q.v.), Exuberance was actually, I thought, a duller book. Gartner captures better the joie de vivre and the outright craziness that can often characterize the person who is chronically high on life. However, Jamison is a far more careful writer, and she doesn't go out onto a limb nearly so much as does Gartner, whose main thesis is supported by dramatic anecdotes rather than by a lot of hard science.
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Read in November, 2005
I decided to buy this book when i picked it up in a bookstore, opened it up and read the quote "playing is serious business." I thought to myself, hm, this could be my type of book. She usually writes about depression and that sort of thing, but this time she decided to write about the other side of the coin and it was pretty fun. She focuses on zestful, playful and passionate people throughout history and tries to find what makes them tick.
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Jamison has written several books on bipolar disorder but in this book she focuses on Exhuberance: "an abounding ebullient effervescent emotion....joy's more energetic realtion." She examines this trait in different species, in children's play, and in well known people such as Teddy Roosevelt, Churchill, and Charles Schultz's Snoopy. She also examines the difference between exhuberance and mania. A fascinating book.
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Well written and frequently uplifting but not as broad a study as the title promises. It's more the story of the role of exuberance in a number of scientific discoveries, and in the lives of particular scientists. Jamison also puts more emphasis than seems to be warranted on mental illness, particularly the mania of manic depression (Jamison's personal affliction and professional interest).
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recommends it for:
people who find life drab and dull
Did you know that porcupines love to dance? That Theodore Roosevelt let kids run around wild in the White House? That Winston Churchill compared himself to a glow worm?
Unfortunately, Kay Redfield Jamison's examples of human exuberance are almost all white men; nevertheless, this is an incredibly enjoyable read. It made me happy to be alive.
Unfortunately, Kay Redfield Jamison's examples of human exuberance are almost all white men; nevertheless, this is an incredibly enjoyable read. It made me happy to be alive.
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Kay Redfield Jamison is a delightful kook. Can we start calling her KayJay? I suspect from skimming that this book is uncharacteristically frivolous, but I'm dying to check out a tract on exuberance from a woman who defended non-medicated bipolars by saying that being manic was like "ice skating on the rings of Saturn," and why would you give up that?
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What I learned from this book:
Talking about exuberance really isn't that exciting.
Talking about exuberance really isn't that exciting.
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4 comments
Read in October, 2007
another well done book... She explores exuberance and what makes us feel that way, nature, drugs, love.
Great quotes in the book. There are also several other books mentioned in this one that I would now like to read... SO many books, so little time...
Great quotes in the book. There are also several other books mentioned in this one that I would now like to read... SO many books, so little time...
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Read in March, 2004
I consider this a profoundly rich book! Very substantive and thorough! Very easy to read and informative about the bright side of psychology!
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i'm skipping through. i never skip. but this has lots of non-linear juicy bits, and i'm eager to taste all of them. yum.
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Read in January, 2008
This book is by the same woman who wrote An Unquiet Mind, which was about bipolar disorder. Well-written and scholarly.
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Read in July, 2008
An exploration of exuberance and how it fuels our most important creative and scientific achievements.
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...but still, if the subject fascinates you, there is enough here that make it worth a read
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Read in January, 2008
Not as good as "An Unquiet Mind"
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