It’s time to look again at these secrets of shyness. Joe Moran, professor of English and cultural history at Liverpool University, is an accomplished writer who comes at shyness with personal experience, literary skill and a subtle mind. His portraits of the many shy characters in history – politicians, military officers, authors, artists, musicians, etc. … Continue reading Rescuing Shyness| Joe Moran and the Secret History of Shyness
Rescuing Shyness|the hunting down of a shy hero |J. D. Salinger
Nothing I have read has convinced me more of the innate callousness and insensitivity to be found in the tribalism we prefer to call 'society' than this account of J. D. Salinger's experience. Salinger was the author of the famous novel, Catcher in the Rye and short stories that are sometimes claimed to be the … Continue reading Rescuing Shyness|the hunting down of a shy hero |J. D. Salinger
Autism’s lost loners|the boy who bought the Earth
Somewhere I’ve said that I think most loners are on the ASD spectrum. Enough has been written about famous loners who, in ‘real life’, have or probably have or had Asperger’s syndrome/ASD - Bill Gates, Michael Jackson, Vladimir Putin, Abraham Lincoln, etc, etc - in this series, I’m going to look at forgotten ones, … Continue reading Autism’s lost loners|the boy who bought the Earth
Dreams | Robert L. Van de Castle – Our Dreaming Mind |all you wanted to know about dreams and more
Because I've been studying dreams since I was a boy, every now and then I think it's time for me to write my own book about dreams. But each time that happens I immediately think of psychologist Robert L. Van de Castle’s monumental book, Our Dreaming Mind and I discard the thought. It’s a book … Continue reading Dreams | Robert L. Van de Castle – Our Dreaming Mind |all you wanted to know about dreams and more
Rescuing Fiction |The 10 shyest novels of all time
Yes, these are the 10 shyest novels of all time - according to me. Since there were over 25,000 novels written in the 19th century alone, and I haven’t read more than 150 of them, along with, maybe, 500 from the 20th and 21st centuries, whose novels no one has tried to count as far … Continue reading Rescuing Fiction |The 10 shyest novels of all time
Paranormal World | Barbara Ehrenreich |Living with a Wild God
Recently I came upon Barbara Ehrenreich's 2015 book Living with a Wild God: A Non-believer's Search for the Truth about Everything. Although she was born a few years before me, Ehrenreich was a prominent anti-Vietnam activist and a key figure of the '60s enlightenment. She and I have been living in parallel for decades, each … Continue reading Paranormal World | Barbara Ehrenreich |Living with a Wild God
Autism |Neurotribes by Steve Silberman
There are so many books about autism that turn out to be disappointing because they mostly rehash all the old arguments. Many writers just want to promote their ideas while they wear blinders so they can ignore the opposition. So I wasn't particularly enthused when I came upon Neurotribes – The Legacy of Autism and … Continue reading Autism |Neurotribes by Steve Silberman
Rescuing the Future | The Singularity is Near
Are you interested in the future? You may want to reply - "Isn't everyone?" Well, no, most people aren't. We're living in a time when, except for politics, the economy and our personal prospects, most people have their eyes very carefully averted from the future. Science fiction films may get big turnouts, but it's mostly … Continue reading Rescuing the Future | The Singularity is Near
Paranormal World | Children who talk of past lives |Re-reading Old Souls
This morning while I was drinking coffee in a Wendy's with traffic passing outside the window, I finished reading, for the second time, Old Souls, New York journalist Tom Shroder's book about psychiatrist Ian Stevenson and the children who speak of past lives. As I put the book down, it occurred to me that these … Continue reading Paranormal World | Children who talk of past lives |Re-reading Old Souls
