Going Sane: Maps of Happiness

by Adam Phillips

Book Overview

Writings on madness fill entire libraries, but until now nobody has thought to engage exclusively with the idea of sanity; we define it simply as that bland and nebulous state of not being mentally ill. But what is sanity? How broad, how eccentric is its range of behavior? And how do we go about crafting a creative and fluid definition of a sane existence, one we can guide ourselves by? Madness is always present in our lives -- in the chaos of our...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0007155395
• ISBN13: 9780007155392
• Release Date: October 2005
• Publisher: Harper
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Thought-provoking

While, on the surface, this book is pretty self-evident and an interesting read, I have to admit that I have found myself thinking about the ideas presented here long after putting down the book. This, to me, is the sign of a surpising and really good book with worthwhile ideas. The ideas in this book provide the antidote to all the naysayers who claim that psychotherapy and the recovery and new-age movements all need to pathologize the human condition. My problem with all the critics is that they often don't offer any real solution. Phillips' book starts this discussion with an eye for the direction that psychotherapy should be heading.