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Phobias: Revealed and Explained
Here's an entertaining look into the many different causes of our ordinary, everyday fears. Some people are afraid of spiders, others fear large dogs, and a few unlucky souls even suffer from phobophobia-a fear of being afraid! Phobias is a fun-packed reference guide to the weird world of things that make people afraid, from ablutophobia, a fear of washing, to zelophobia, the fear of being jealous. Whether reasonable or irrational, virtu-ally every one of us has a phobia of one kind or another, and here is the book that names and explains them. Arranged in the form of quick-reference sections, this engaging book helps readers explore their fears and enlightens them about the origins of each qualm and trepidation.
- GenresNonfictionPsychology
128 pages, Paperback
First published February 15, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 12, 2020
This is a book that explores the world of phobias while also providing a bit of the history of the etymology of the words when it can and also related themes. As such it isn't a fleshed out book but rather more of a brief guide.
Almost all of the entries are brief with a bold format of the fear of subject at the top. This is then followed by the phobia term and a pronunciation guide to that term. Finally this is followed up by a small blip that explains where the term comes from whether Classical term derived, a modern take or if there are no known connections. Some of these are then followed up by a related terms such as the fear of blood is found underneath the fear of paper while there are times that these are repeated over and over again.
The book is loosely organized in color separated categories. The only way, though, that you will find what you are reading about is by looking at the very bottom of the page as the sections aren't separated apart but flow into one another. Furthermore since of this there is no Table of Contents nor an index to help the reader find a specific subject.
Another thing is the font size is rather small and although the color is the same on the page there are some spots that are quite darker than others, which makes it harder to read the writing, especially if your lighting isn't good.
The illustrations are rather interesting for they are a bit on the abstract side so they reflect a weirdness to it almost like looking at carnival Fun House mirrors. Some of these are slightly duplicated such as telescopic view, given abstract colors and so many more other effects.
All in all it was rather an interesting book, especially for such trivia as the fear of poetry stems from the word meaning mother or womb. What? How?
If you like an informative read about phobias or just to get an introductory idea about what kinds of fears lurk out there then this may be a interesting read for you if not a bit heavy if you choose to read it from cover-to-cover.
Almost all of the entries are brief with a bold format of the fear of subject at the top. This is then followed by the phobia term and a pronunciation guide to that term. Finally this is followed up by a small blip that explains where the term comes from whether Classical term derived, a modern take or if there are no known connections. Some of these are then followed up by a related terms such as the fear of blood is found underneath the fear of paper while there are times that these are repeated over and over again.
The book is loosely organized in color separated categories. The only way, though, that you will find what you are reading about is by looking at the very bottom of the page as the sections aren't separated apart but flow into one another. Furthermore since of this there is no Table of Contents nor an index to help the reader find a specific subject.
Another thing is the font size is rather small and although the color is the same on the page there are some spots that are quite darker than others, which makes it harder to read the writing, especially if your lighting isn't good.
The illustrations are rather interesting for they are a bit on the abstract side so they reflect a weirdness to it almost like looking at carnival Fun House mirrors. Some of these are slightly duplicated such as telescopic view, given abstract colors and so many more other effects.
All in all it was rather an interesting book, especially for such trivia as the fear of poetry stems from the word meaning mother or womb. What? How?
If you like an informative read about phobias or just to get an introductory idea about what kinds of fears lurk out there then this may be a interesting read for you if not a bit heavy if you choose to read it from cover-to-cover.
November 6, 2010
Who knew kissing phobia (philematophobia) was a thing? Or fear of the color purple (porphyrophobia)? Pretty weird. Although the strangest phobia I noticed in here was actually hellophobia (fear of Greek culture.) WTF?
May 20, 2009
I had to keep the book cover side down because of the freaky clown pic **** I suffer from COULROPHOBIA
June 2, 2013
There is A LOT of duplication.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews