Edition |
First Picador edition |
Description |
xvi, 314 pages ; 21 cm |
Contents |
Five short talks on excess -- In excess -- Enough is enough -- Sex mad -- On being too much for ourselves -- Believe it or not -- On what is fundamental -- Sleeping it off -- Children behaving badly -- Should school make you happy? -- Truancy now -- The authenticity issue -- Negative capabilities -- The horse -- The helpless -- The perfectionist -- The lost -- On getting away with it -- Forms of inattention -- Arbus's freaks -- Celebrating Sebald -- Mendelsohn's histories -- Auden's magic -- Mothers and fairy tales -- Jack and his beanstalk -- The least of her problems: Cinderella and men -- Forsaken favourites. |
Summary |
"Every day, we are told that balance is a good thing. We are supposed to make balanced judgments, balance our budget, and preserve a balance of power in our government. Disturbed people are described as unbalanced. In this insightful, charming book, the philosopher and psychoanalyst Adam Phillips looks afresh at balance (and its shadow, excess) and asks if achieving the former is such an admirable goal. From this perspective, Phillips examines the explosive topics of money, sex, parenthood, faith, and education. In his exhilarating and casually brilliant explorations of case studies, fairy tales, works of art, and literature, the paradoxes inherent in our appetites and fears are revealed."-- Publisher description. |
Subject |
Cognitive balance.
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Desire.
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Proportion -- Psychological aspects.
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ISBN |
9780312610746 |
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0312610742 |
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