Inprint - New Books of interest by Jeanne Spiro

OVERDO$ED America: The Broken Promise of American Medicine
by John Abramson, M.D. (Harper Perennial, $13.95, Paperback.)

Despite spending twice as much per person as other industrialized countries, Americans’ health ranks among the worst. How did this happen, how can it be fixed?

Harvard Medical School clinical faculty member and family practitioner Dr. John Abramson explains how doctors were misled into prescribing $20 billion worth of Vioxx and Celebrex, the cover-ups of the danger of antidepressant therapy for children and adolescents, and the inability of medical journals to oversee scientific integrity of the articles they publish. He says that Americans are receiving more than $500 billion worth of unnecessary and often harmful medical care each year.

As recently as 1991, most medical research was done at universities and academic medical centers. By 2000, it had moved to for-profit research companies. At the same time, the traditional watchdogs overseeing the quality of medical research and care—medical journals, universities, and the FDA—became increasingly dependent on funding from the medical industry itself, giving it tremendous control over the entire process.

Combining research findings with more than twenty years of experience as a family physician, Dr. Abramson explains what the best scientific evidence really shows, what people can do to protect their own health, and what we need to do as a nation to restore the promise of American medicine.

Islam for the Western Mind by Richard Henry Drummond. (Hamton Roads, $16.95, Paperback.)

More than a billion people consider themselves Muslim. It is the world’s second largest religion. Yet Western portrayals of the Islamic mind are often flawed. Islam for the Western Mind looks at what inspires and motivates Muslims, namely Muhammad and the teaching of the Koran.

Richard Drummond, a Presbyterian minister and former professor, looks at the life and teaching of Islam’s founding Prophet, paying close attention to the religious and political community that existed during Muhammad’s time as well as after his death. He also looks at the larger cultural impact of Islam and the lightning-like spread of the new religion across much of the Middle East, North Africa, and parts of Europe. He examines Muhammad’s teachings about women, pagans, and Jesus and gives close attention to the ethical teaching of the Koran.

Islam for the Western Mind offers insights that will lead to fruitful dialogue and hopefully to peaceful coexistence and cooperation among peoples of different faiths in the world.

War and the Soul: Healing Our Nation’s Veterans from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder by Edward Tick, Ph.D. (Quest Books, 19.95. Paperback.)

Although their fighting is over, veterans often remain drenched in the imagery and emotion of war for years and sometimes for their entire lives. For them, every vital human characteristic that we attribute to the soul may be fundamentally reshaped. The affliction that today we call post-traumatic stress disorder has had many names over the centuries, it is the result of the way war invades, wounds, and transforms the spirit.

In times past, our ancestors conducted war with far greater preparation, guidance and restraint than we do today. Life threatening service was a rite of passage into adulthood, and warriors were reintegrated into civilian life with rituals that involved the whole community and imparted transformative spiritual wisdom. In modern times war has become more destructive. We view ancient beliefs and practices about warriors as anachronistic. PTSD has become more prevalent.

War teaches hard lessons. The experience of war or other trauma changes us forever. Edward Tick believes that when we reconstruct a survivor’s identity from veteran to warrior, we open up dimensions of soul that modern society ignores. He says that warriorhood is not a role but a phychospiritual identity, an achieved condition of a mature, wise, and experienced soul. By modeling warrior traditions in ways that are relevant and adapted to modern life, we can grow a new identity that is strong and compassionate enough to carry the wound and heal the soul.

The World is a Waiting Lover: Desire and the Quest for the Beloved by Trebbe Johnson. (New World Library, $14.95, Paperback.)

When she was fifty years old, Trebbe Johnson fell in love with a young man who was assisting on a wilderness rites of passage program she was leading in the mountains of southern California. Unwilling to jeopardize her marriage by indulging in an affair, or to chalk up the attraction to a midlife crisis and turn her back on her feelings, she took another route. She decided to track passion itself. What she uncovered was the figure of the Beloved, an ancient archetype with new meaning for modern seekers.

Johnson explores the concept of the Beloved, the elusive, alluring force that beckons us forth to passionate engagement with the world and shows how our sense of love is often linked to something far greater than ourselves. She explains that mistaking a human lover for the inner, eternal Beloved is the first step in any romance, yet the ability to distinguish between the two ultimately holds the key to our quest for personal freedom and fulfillment.

Steeped in myth and romantic imagery, The World is a Waiting Lover guides us through story and thought in order to discover passion, Eros, and our authentic selves. It is a personal story and, at the same time, an invitation to explore our individual yearnings to live with fearless authenticity as we find more passion and meaning in our work, relationships, and view of the future.

Mary Magdalene, Bride in Exile by Margaret Starbird. (Bear & Company, $20.00, Paperback, includes CD)

The controversy surrounding Mary Magdalene and her relationship to Jesus has gained widespread interest lately. In Mary Magdalene, Bride in Exile, Margaret Starbird examines the many faces of Mary Magdalene, from the historical woman who walked with Jesus in the villages of Judea to the mythic and symbolic Magdalene who is the archetype of the sacred Feminine. She reveals new information about the woman who was the most intimate companion of Jesus and offers historical evidence that Mary was Jesus’ forgotten bride.

Expanding on the discussion of medieval art and lore introduced in her best-selling book The Woman with the Alabaster Jar, Starbird sifts through the layers of misidentification under which the story of the lost bride of Christ has been buried to reveal the slandered woman and the “exiled” feminine principle. She establishes the identity of the female disciple who was the first to witness Jesus’ resurrection and provides an interpretation of Mary’s true role based on prophecy from the Hebrew Scriptures and the testimony of the canonical gospels of Christianity.

Included is a 60-minute CD of the author’s lecture, “Mary Magdalene, Bride of the Beloved,” in which she discusses historical and scriptural evidence for the marriage of Jesus and Mary Magdalen.

Worst Enemy, Best Teacher: How to Survive and Thrive with Opponents, Competitors, and the People who Drive You Crazy by Deidre Combs. (New World Library, $14.95, Paperback.)

Like conflict itself, adversaries are everywhere—the rude colleague, the nasty neighbor, the unpleasant in-law, the political foe—just to name a few. So, how to deal with those who are genuinely frightening, generally infuriating, or just plain annoying? While many think that we would be better off getting rid of them, science and history actually prove otherwise. Both agree that opponents are here to stay and are in fact critical to our existence. Our adversaries show us who we are by holding up a contrasting side.

Yelling, screaming, physical violence, and emotional shutdown are all common but ineffective ways to deal with problems and problematic people. What is a better way to deal with them? How can we benefit from someone else’s bad behavior? Deidre Combs presents a powerful system to identify and learn how to best approach the person or problem that plagues us most. She breaks down problems and threats into easily understood categories and shows how they affect one’s worldview and beliefs. She offers ingenious tips and techniques for learning from the enemy and converting conflict into resolution.