Suicide Books

The book will be very helpful in working with students who are dealing with grief issues. On hands projects with students are proven to be very helpful tools to empower students and decrease their feelings of helplessness.

I stumbled on to Alan Wolfelt's books while browsing around at my local bookstore. His books on grieving really hit the spot and offer wonderful suggestions for teens, children and adults. There are books for caregivers and for those grieving as well.

This book is wonderful. My son passed away at the age of 24 and my 15 year old daughter was finding it hard to find her way through this difficult grieving process. The book touched upon so many important and pertinent facts such as your grief is unique, just like your relationship to the person you lost is unique. Whether it's the loss of a sibling, parent, grandparent or other person in a teen's life, I think this book really addresses many of the issues that teens are concerned with when dealing with a loss in their lives.

Wolfelt has written this book in an easy-read format, making it not only easy to pick up and thumb through, but the bulletted pages make it easier for teens to read. As a School Social Work intern, the activities listed on the bottom of each page are excellent sources of ideas for use with students with whom I work.

Whatever these men have done in their lives has found its way into the thread of their works. What an enjoyable read. Saderup has his own voice where nobody would expect such rumbling sounds to become a thing of beauty. Buy it. Read it. Review it.

If we wait long enough good things will happen: justice will come. After waiting many years for good poetry it has arrived in the form of four ugly faces from Reno. Well, at least they call themselves the Reno four. Don't let the faces fool you. This poetry explodes in your soul. It is an incredible array of illusion and reality, fire and ice. The beats are dead and gone, and standing on the bones of yesterday are the words of these four poets illuminating the future world of literature. Books like this and Anthony Ziegler's "Cars and People: pissing at 60 miles and hour," are bearing the torch into the new era of literature. A must read!

S. Haddings

Anthony Douglas Ziegler (author of Cars and People, pissing at 60 miles an hour), Scott Elliott (a wordsmith), Randy Saderup (incredible artist) and Scott Shulim (a guy from the Bronx) are talented men whose paths were pre-determined to cross at some point. The years they spent in Reno, Nevada running critique groups, open mics and art exhibits were not wasted. As well as the many nights they tooled their craft with wine and wood parties, reading submissions to "The Okra-Chicken" a literary publication and travels to everywhere they could read show strong favor toward the emotional impact of these blue collar men. We often find ourselves wishing we had written or said this or that, staring in mirrors on freeways, mouthing words to songs and prose, imagining how others might see us saying these words for the first time. The work in this book is delightful as well as worldly. It is in your face and your heart. Women cannot help but hear Anthony speak in person and want to nurture him. Scott Elliott's strong vocal presence owns the stage when he talks. Randy Saderup corrals the soul with truth and sadness. Scott Shulim makes you laugh through your tears, trying to hide, afraid others may be watching you feel every word as if you gave them birth. I am indeed pleased to finally have the opportunity to encourage the purchase of this, their FIRST published work, together. They read on my KVMR public radio show many times in Nevada City, CA. Thank you guys! Great work!

If you are looking for something new in the world of poetry, then this is it. Wherever these guys came from, they kept to themselves and learned how to write. I found every influence from Rumi to Neruda in their work. Sensational. From feeling the death of a spider to eating a bagel in a New York apartment, and from the touch of that first love to the laughter of birds. A must for the private library. Good work, new and fresh. Something different for this century.

I had previously heard of Aaron A. when I read the online issue of Serenity Rose at his art website, so I recognized his art style as soon as I saw the girl on the cover.
Kimmie66 is a soft science-fiction story about a girl trying to solve a mystery concerning her best friend, Kimmie66, who has sent her a suicide note. Unfortunately, this is difficult since people now socialize through "lairs" or a hi-tech version of a MMORPG, complete with virtual reality goggles.
The characters are interesting, especially Kimmie66. The heroine may remind Aaron A. fans of Serenity Rose - almost similar dress style, mannerisms, etc. The topic of technology and virtual communities would also appeal to modern readers. The art mixes a crisp, cookie-cutter style similar to anime or Junko Mizuno, along with a sketchy, horror edge resembling the works of Jhonen Vasquez. My only complaint is that it is not very long. I would have liked to learn more of Kimmie66 and her life outside of the virutal one, and a few things as well.
For the price of 9.99, I would say its worth buying.

Art: A
Plot: A
Readability: A
Average score: A (worth buying)

But Kimmie66 is not just another Minx comic. Sure, girls age 13 - 17 will like Kimmie66, but so will you! Sci-fi/fantasy/techno-goth/awesome! An intiguing story in a hugely new world, creative and brilliant art style with endearing character design.
Buy this comic.

The Minx line is supposed to be aimed at teen girls, but from what they tell me at Eide's Comics in Pittsburgh, a lot of books get picked up by regular comic book readers like myself -- older and male.

I picked up "kimmie66" by Aaron Alexovich a couple weeks back and only now got around to reading it. About halfway through, I caught on to what Aaron was up to and was astonished by where it was headed. The book is far more than one would expect for the Minx line or comic books in general. No, it's not as good as Straczynski's "Midnight Nation" or even "Spider-Man: Revelations" but I'd rank it as a "must read."

This story will be enjoyed by anyone who has ever experienced a meaningful relationship online: friendship, romance, or even a deep 6 hour conversation with a complete stranger. If you are thirsting for a book that helps you understand the mindsets of the new world we live in, this is one of those books. It may be set in the future, but everything in this story directly applies to the present day.

It hits home with the world we now live in; where physical barriers are becoming less important; where corporations are organizing international employee training sessions in virtual worlds, and are recruiting in Second Life; a world where you have close friends internationally but have no clue who your next door neighbor is.

Information and technological advancement is happening so rapidly that what a person learns in their first year of college can become outdated by the time they graduate. This book captures the modern feeling of infinite access, infinite exploration, infinite creation. In a time when virtually anything is possible (pun intended), we need stories that target, capture, explore and encourage that feeling for all generations living here and now on our very, very small Earth.

The story itself is as old as time: it is the story of friendship, understanding, self-discovery and growing up. I would go so far as to say that I think parents might benefit from reading this book, to better understand the world their children are growing up in. And to simply enjoy the book itself; it is truly for all ages.

I read the book this past month and i love it. I am only fourteen but i found that it seemed like you could relate to the way that cat was living. I could feel for her and yet see how her mom and grama would try to hide it. It is not like most books and i love that about it!! I loved it and am doing a idependent novel study on it for school!! I would love to read more Jean Thesman books in the future.

Hallo,

I am Eileen Makori. I have read a couple of books by Jean and I love them. Sorry for using this opportunity to ask a question. I want to reccomend this writer to many people,but first I want to find out her brief autobiography. Please could you e-mail me. I want to know when she was born and where she took her studies. Thank you for this information.

Sincerely, Eileen

I read this book about a year ago and have reread it a few times since then. It was an amazing book and I recommend it to anyone. Cat is an amazing character that I could relate to because she is more like an actual teenage girl, unlike characters in alot of books where they always seem the same whatever book you read. This book is extremley well written.

It has been about 10 years since I read this book, but when I read it in 5th grade, I thought it was wonderful...I have not reread it since, but would love to read it to see if it still touches my heart like it did then. I remember it being a very heart-touching, tear-jerking book.

It's a very good book. Mrs. Dalloway is very important book to understand the psycological game of a woman with existential problems in the twenties.

This is a great edition for anyone who has never read Virginia Woolf before. There is enough biographical information included at the beginning of the book to give any reader a good idea of Woolf's background before they proceed to the actual novel. It was very helpful for me as it was my first exposure to Woolf.

The novel itself is very interesting and the notations were quite helpful to keep the events and places throughout the novel straight.

Let me begin by saying I utterly loathe Virginia Woolf with every atom in my flesh. After reading 6 of her novels (Jacob's Room, To the Lighthouse, The Waves, Between the Acts, The Years, and Orlando) and two essays (A Room of One's Own and Three Guineas) I decided to try one of her most celebrated novels (if it weren't celebrated, then why write a parallel novel or direct a movie based on the aforementioned novel or even attempt at making a cinematic adaptation of Mrs. Dalloway in the first place?), and needless to say, her most celebrated work added one more book to the list of books I will never read again. I had heard from a great number of "literate" people that she is an acquired taste; that reader's will need an ear for poetry to have a richer appreciation for her prose. I sadly do not have an ear for poetry, and I, obviously, have the foul taste of Woolf in my mouth. Her prose is difficult- and that's putting it mildly. Mrs. Dalloway is no exception. At times I had no idea who was narrating, sentences can go on for paragraphs at a stretch with little meaning to them.
I must say this edition (the latest from Hartcourt; the annotated edition) is particularly fine. The notes aide readers- both scholarly and passive- how to acquire a better taste from Virginia Woolf. It details a number of Wollf's allusions, places the novel in a historical timeframe, and provides insight into Woolf's psyche. I recommend getting this edition over any other editions based on the extensive notes.

This is a fine edition and value, including a helpful preface introducing the author and novel as well as an appendix (the "annotated" part) with explanations of terms, places, and designations for non-Londoners along with identifications of literary, political and historical allusions for readers who could use a little extra help.

Anyone who has read James Joyce's "The Dead" will recognize some of the same themes and preoccupations in "Mrs. Dalloway," which in addition evokes numerous English "comedies of manners" as well as satirical narratives about a straight-laced Victorian culture that has become an anachronism in the 1920s. The story at times resembles a Jane Austen novel, except for the absence of a "fixed" point-of-view or reliable standard by which to measure the characters, each of which has, to lesser or greater degrees, sympathetic and unsympathetic qualities and is shown from the "inside" as a mind-in-process, a consciousness-in-flux (consequently, a reader needs to be careful not to apply an overly "logical" approach, insistent upon hanging on to a single point or statement as "the truth" about a character, who is more likely to try one possibility, then another, leaving it up to the reader to infer a character's essence through careful consideration of the important meanings derived from multiple impressions).

This is not a novel for the impatient or tone-deaf. Woolf creates a character's interior life through a virtuosic, highly mobile third-person narrator, who might be thought of as the character's "persona," not merely "expressing" the character's thoughts but "mirroring" how the character perceives him or herself as seen by others. Moreover, the indefinite pronouns can shift unexpectedly or occur in too close proximity to make identification easy or even definite. As a result, the reader has to work overtime to achieve entrance into the mind of the "right" character while simultaneously sensing the liquid, interpenetrating and shared qualities of human identity itself. And finally there's that tone, now soft, next loud, and never to be trusted to be without irony.

Woolf makes it fairly easy on the reader with the broad, sardonic strokes she uses to paint the practically villainous Sir William Bradshaw, the eminent psychiatrist viewed by many (especially himself) as the scientific high priest of this cross-section of deluded London luminaries; and she's equally nasty to her other "villain," Miss Kilman, a repressed and embittered born-again Christian who, like Sir William, lives by the code of "conversion," Woolf's euphemism for those powerful personalities who are bent upon breaking, controlling and dominating the will of anyone not strong enough to resist them. The other portraits are more subtle, requiring the reader either to hear the soft, nuanced ironical tones or risk missing both the social satire and the character. Woolf's targets range, perhaps not surprisingly, from the pretense, pride, and hypocrisy of an out-of-touch social stratum that clings to the "orderly" past; to the arrogance of modern medical "science"; to, more surprisingly, the suffocating alternatives offered by both religion and love.

Readers lured to this novel because of Cunningham's "The Hours" (novel or film) may be disappointed or quickly frustrated. Moving from Cunningham to Woolf is a bit like going from Fitzgerald to Faulkner, or from Austen to Shakespeare. What you immediately notice is, despite Woolf's limiting her story to a single day (compared to Cunningham's three-generation setting), the far greater range and more inclusive thematic focus and, most importantly, the sheer power and vitality of the prose (from fluid motion to dynamic rush). Woolf--like Joyce, Faulkner, and Shakespeare--employs a syntax that can cause the earth to move from under a reader's feet: she's a writer who represents not merely individual characters but captures the world whole not to mention the life of language itself.

The greatest challenge "Mrs. Dalloway" presents to a first-time reader is never to let up. It's essential to stay with Clarissa throughout her entire day, finally becoming a fully engaged participant in the party itself--the final thirty pages of the novel, which contain some of Woolf's best writing. Especially critical is the extended moment, almost 20 pages into the party scene, when Clarissa, like Septimus, walks to the window and has her epiphany. At that moment, one character chooses death; the other, life. But Woolf enables us to see these apparently opposite choices as "existential" cognates: both characters make choices that enable them to save their souls.

Cunningham is a first-rate stylist and craftsman who can tell a story that's moving and evocative, a narrative, moreover, that connects with today's readers by affirming the choices available to the self. But it inevitably pales alongside the vibrant novel and microcosm of life that is its source and inspiration. Virginia, like her character Clarissa, knows how to throw a party.

I admit that I almost was very middle aged when I read any of Woolf's novels. And, that was only because I read "The Hours."

I learned that the character names therein related to Mrs. Dalloway and other characters of her novels. So, I picked up "To the Lighthouse" and experienced my first "stream of consciousness" style which I analogize to ADD - now the novel is dialogue, then thought, then observation, then . . . and all in one sentence. But, within that one sentence, you learn more than most authors can present on pages.

Reading one page of Woolf takes twice or three times as much time as other authors. Basically, the density of the writing style prohibits skimming, prohibits glossing, or prohibits you from losing concentration.

Modern authors who can conjure as much in as little paper include J.M. Coetzee or V.S. Naipual. These are three great names in the all-time history of fiction. I truly believe that she influenced these writers and hundreds of others.

This book awakened me to many things which I did not know lay within the pages. And, it also helped explain some of the orthodox-like exactitude of the characters, names and plot of "The Hours." Woolf's fans are true blue, died-in-the-wool absolutists. And, this book reflects that more than anything. Many of the published fans herein are famous in their own right, and they are just as devout to Woolf as her secret admirers - like me and probably you (who else but a Woolfie would be reading about this book?).

I recommend this book greatly as it educated me more than I could ever have imagined about the relationship between the book and her life and other related events.

Francine Prose's Mrs. Dalloway Reader makes the enigmatic and brilliant Virginia Woolf's masterpiece and bit easier for us modern readers. Since the publication of Cunningham's spectacular The Hours and the movie titled the same, Woolf's writing has undergone a renaissance, rising once again on bestseller lists everywhere. But she's STILL difficult, with the loooong sentences, endless paragraphs, the convoluted windings of words and thoughts and phrases and explanations and descriptions and disclaimers with which her writing is rife.
This book is the missing link. It includes the complete text of Mrs. Dalloway and Mrs. Dalloway's Party, plus relevant journal entries and letters by Virginia Woolf relating to the creation of Mrs. Dalloway. Also included are essays and reviews by other writers, all about Mrs. Dalloway. Taken all together, these snippets function like a lovely roadmap into not only the character of Mrs. Dalloway, but into the mind of her creator.
Top notch.

Francine Prose is one of our more important writers (novels 'Blue Angel', 'After', 'A Changed Man', 'Primitive People'; probing biographies 'Caravaggio: Painter of Miracles'), a writer with a profound respect of the past, for the art of writing and the art of reading. Her most recent book is titled 'Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them' should give an idea of what is in store in this most enjoyable and illuminating book THE MRS. DALLOWAY READER.

Prose writes an Introduction that, while brief, offers keys to unlocking the genius that was Virginia Woolf. 'She longed to fill the book [Mrs. Dalloway] with "speed and life", to "give life & death, sanity & insanity; I want to criticize the social system & to show it at work, at its most intense.' Prose extracts quotes form Woolf's writings in an astute manner that allows us to understand the tortured genius who wrote them. As far as the book 'Mrs. Dalloway', Prose writes '...its all here: life, death, sex, love, marriage, parenthood, youth, age, the present and the past, memory, London, war, reason and unreason, loyalty, medicine, social snobbery, friendship, compassion, cruelty; the occasionally apt but more often unfounded snap judgments we make about ourselves, each other, loved ones, strangers, and the world in which chance and fortune have thrown us all together'. She touches on Woolf's insanity and conflicted sexuality that blossomed with Vita Sackville-West, and with her suicide by drowning, but she is far more interested in sharing the manner in which Woolf created her books - her fleshing out of the state of consciousness.

As editor Francine Prose then gathers writings form such erudite dignitaries as Katherine Mansfield, E.M. Forster, Michael Cunningham, Daniel Mendelsohn, Sigrud Nunez et al, couples these observations with Woolf's own serialized beginnings of her famous novel, and then offers us the entire MRS DALLOWAY at the end of the book. Reading Virginia Woolf in this atmosphere serves to enlighten the reader and once again prove that this novel is one of the more important writings of the last century. This book is a treasure! Grady Harp, December 06

`Mrs Dalloway' is a kind of cultural phenomena.

Everyone that I know has a different take on who she is, what this book is, and what the novel is supposed to stand for. Enter into this fray the authors own opinion about the whole of it and you have an all-out melee of fiction versus fiction.

This book, The Mrs Dalloway Reader, attempts to focus this problem somewhat. In it, not only will you find the novel itself, but you will also find various supplementary materials that help to ease you into what this novel is and what it means to so many different people. From those whose experience began with trying to impress a girl (and the lucky happenstance of finding the book at a Book-Mobile) to those who fought off the strains of absinthe addiction, the short pieces in range from essays to the first `draft' of the novel `Mrs Dalloway's Party'. Include in this assortment such lovingly-crafted emulations as Jane Mansfield's `The Garden Party' and you've got yourself a real winning combination.

But is this a good reason to buy this book? Don't you need more reasons? Of course!

Take this one: I knew absolutely nothing about Virginia Woolf when I purchased this book. She lived about 100 years ago. She wrote many books and I've seen some of her diaries in the hands of female students when I was in high school about ten years ago. She is popular with the intelligent-female group, those who want to be well-read and know the difference between Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley. Add to this that I am a guy. Now, take all that and combine it, dashing in the fact that this book single-handedly introduced me to who Virginia Woolf is and what she stood for- just through the supplementary material- and you have not only a great novel but a good place to get your foot into the door of this wonderful writer.

Is that still not enough? Okay: supplementary material aside, how is the book? Wonderful. It is a style of writing that I've heard called `Impressionistic' by some learned person. This is true- until you read Virginia Woolf (who is far easier to understand than other stream-of-consciousness writers such as Joyce) you have no idea what great pictures such simple things as words can express. Mrs Dalloway does this too, moving the reader through a simple narrative that is painted with poetical words, bringing to life a novel that is to fiction what Renoir is to painting; only the basic outline is there, amid all the broad strokes, and you must look to find it...but it is amazing when you see it.

LP

Bottom line: If you know nothing about Virginia Woolf and want a good, solid platform from which to start, pick this one. If you know a lot about her and want to explore more, you pick this one too.

Frederick Lanceley's "On-Scene Guide for Crisis Negotiators" is a long needed compendium of technique and definition in the field of crisis negotitations. Mr. Lanceley's vast experience has enabled him to provide techniques based on real-life situations not just theory. The volume is arranged in a concise, easy-to-reference format which should be a part of every negotiator's "Ready Kit". One of the most important points about this book is the fact that it addresses the types of situations faced daily by police negotiators. Suicide intervention, long a subject ignored in many negotiations seminars, is given in-depth treatment. In addition, the entire book is an interesting read. His account of his involvement at Ruby Ridge is fascinating. I would recommend this book to anyone involved in the field, police commanders and anyone interested in crisis intervention.

Recently retired FBI Special Agent Fred Lanceley gives us the benefit of his expertise in this highly detailed book on the actions a crisis negotiator must take in the field. Lanceley describes techniques that will be of benefit to any police officet, tactical dispatcher, hostage negotiator or crisis counselor who is confronted with a barricaded subject, a mentally disturbed individual or a potential hostage taker. These people are encouraged to read Lanceley's book and to include it in your current training. Dave Larton, Member, California Association of Hostage Negotiators

Good 1st book to read on those wanting to be Negotiators in the Law Enforcement field.

Excellent basic text which covers practical aspects of Crisis Negotiation. Solid, contemporary content and a great reference resource.

I found this a dense book and difficult to read (that may have been my depression, which makes it hard to think)
AND WORTH PERSISTING WITH.

Such a relief to find someone who understands and explains.

THANK YOU David - this is the first book i have read that makes sense. So many ideas in this book here are
some of the gems -

*You can survive suicidal feelings if you do either of two things: (1) find a way to reduce your pain, or (2) find a way to increase your coping resources. Both are possible.

* He describes accurately a symptom that my doctors, and psychiatrist, have ignored.
AND explains this symptom:- exhaustion -as being from the struggles with pain and trying to live when living is too hard. Now i dont have to feel guilty for sleeping "too much" anymore :).

*he also explains why my drs are looking at me blankly when i ask for a rehabilitation team.... ingrained prejudice against the suicidal. (they cannot believe i might know what i need )

*treatment of physical pain and illness / disability is important.

* everyone who is depressed/suicidal is feeling that way for different reasons and will need different distress relief. (confirming my idea that i need a "rehab team" - and giving me ideas of how to start forming it)

*there really is prejudice and fear about the suicidal - which explains so much about why i have had so much trouble getting help that HELPS.

THANK YOU DAVID - i am not mad or bad or weak or even mentally ill, - i am in pain from many sources and i can relieve my pain bit by bit. (it is do able !!!)
NOW i have realistic, concrete hope. this is the greatest gift.

Dr. David Conroy's Book "Out of the Nightmare - Recovery from Suicidal Pain" was the definitive source of "reason" for me, at a time when nothing made sense. The idea that people caught in suicidal pain could break out of their own hell to see some light by removing social stigma and aversion one piece at a time was as remarkable as it was refreshing. Now that I have this information, I can see through the accusations that the suicidal are manipulative, vengeful, aggressive people choosing between life and death like deciding which shoes to wear. That pain, be it physical or psychological, can be relieved through careful selection of coping resources. I agree that the book appears to attack mainstream psychology, and could be initially distressing to someone in suicidal pain, but the reader will quickly discover that the attacks are not about them but about the fears that drive society to such hostile aversion for those in pain. Once the reader realizes the absurdity of society's notion that "every human being has sufficient will power to tolerate any level of pain for any length of time" then the book takes on a new perspective. The author systematically addresses each pain, laying it bare and exposed for the myth that it is, and offers clear direction on how to remove their power of hopelessness and despair. It also provides excellent information about how to get the most from your psychologist meetings, and how to know when it's time to find better help. Suicide, for the majority of humanity, is not a solution with motives and goals that are ruthlessly pursued. Depression, driven by psychological pain, is not the cognitive thought process as so many "experts" try to model. There are no successes or failures when it comes to self-harming events. If you really want to find out what is driving the madness, this book will guide you into the nightmare head on, but won't let you go until you've reached the shore of life and recovery. As much as you want to reduce pain for life and love again, I recommend Dr. Conroy's guide as the ultimate processing session to supplement your medication(s). Be sure to take a highlighter along - by the time you've finished the book, I guarantee that 40% will be colored in!

We have a cultural mythology that oppresses the suicidal. The mythology adds to their pain, makes it harder for them to get help, and greatly contributes to suicide. Suicidal people suffer pain on more than one level: not only the emotional pain that makes them consider ending their lives, but pain that is unintentionally inflicted on them by well-meaning people who say terribly unhelpful things to them. "That's not enough to be suicidal about." "He only took 15 pills, he wasn't serious." "Anyone who tries to kill himself has got to be crazy." "I thought you were stronger than that." "You're just looking for attention." "Cheer up, it's a beautiful day." As if suicidal persons weren't feeling bad enough already, our thoughtless attitudes can cause them to feel guilt and shame, and keep them from getting help in time. Dr. Conroy blasts apart the myths of suicide, and looks at suicidal feelings from the inside, in a down to earth, non-judgmental way. This is a book that will save lives by washing away the stigma of suicide and opening the door to a real way out of the nightmare.

Conroy ruthlessly debunks suicide myths: that it is volitional, that it is morally wrong, that the suicidal are weak and selfish. He helps us understand the fears of the suicidal - and our own fears that drive the stigma of suicide.

The book is a pretty dense read. It requires patience because there are a lot of ideas packed into this book. If you are a suicidal person, read it in small bites; the ideas are so radical that they may send you reeling with relief. But you will know right away that the author understands, and doesn't blame you for what you are feeling. And you'll find out that there are people out there who really can help.

"Out of the Nightmare" is primarily responsible for my recovery from twenty years of suicidal pain. I have read many books on suicide, but David Conroy is the ONLY author who obviously understands first-hand what it feels like to be suicidal. He states: "Suicide is not chosen; it happens when pain exceeds resources for coping with pain." That simple approach relieved me of the burden of guilt that most suicidal people feel about being suicidal, which exacerbates their pain. It helped me understand that by simply increasing my coping resources, and working on the individual sources of my pain, I could untangle the web of darkness that leads to suicidal feelings.

Dr. Conroy understands the thoughts and fears of suicidal people, and offers a clear, non-judgmental, morally neutral path to recovery.

Dr. Conroy also shows how many people - including therapists, counselors, and loved ones who intend to be helpful - often actually make a suicidal person's pain worse, and deter them from seeking help. He offers concrete suggestions from his vast experience for how to help a suicidal person, and empowers the suicidal with permission to resist the harm that is unwittingly inflicted on them.

I am alive today because of this book. Many therapists and counselors have "theories" about suicide that were formed in classrooms and laboratories. David Conroy's approach was formed in the real world, and it's a real-world, practical approach to true relief from the nightmare of suicidal pain.

"Perelberg has produced a book of the greatest topical importance to anyone involved in psychoanalysis. The review of the literature is by far the best on the subject. The various chapters of this most skillfully edited book are beautifully written and lay the foundations for a psychoanalytic theory of violence and suicide. They also make an important contribution to a theory of technique that understands symptoms as solutions to conflicts...It should be a standard work for many years to come."

"The clinical material is detailed, vivid, and convincing; the theoretical discussion is wide and the result is a book of great interest to anyone involved in psychoanalysis".

"This book is a joy to read, human and theoretically stimulating...The subject is urgently topical...Perelberg has grasped a mammoth task. She has done it magnificently. She shows a real talent for abstract thought...It is a marvellous read which could be a standard work for many years."

This book is a collection of clinical papers on the treatment of patients who have acted violently against others or, in attempting to end their own lives, have acted violently against themselves. This is one of the comparatively few books that contribute to the psychoanalytic literature on the treatment of violence. Repeatedly, it is made clear that this is about ACTUAL physical violence (or its threat) in or out of the clinical situation.

The editor, an analyst of the British Psychoanalytical Society, begins with a comprehensive review on the literature relevant to the subject and this provides an excellent starting point for anyone wishing to look further and in detail into particular aspects of the main theme of the book. Aggression and the controversies that surround the understanding of its nature, origins and manifestations are looked into from different and various perspectives. She also introduces each of the chapters and weaves a unifying threat in such a way that one can get a sense of coherence to the collection despite the different clinical style and thinking of each of its contributors.

Each chapter discusses clinical material in a clear and vivid way and does not for a moment fail to convey what it was like for each of the analysts to be in the room with their patient and the difficulties they encountered. The clinical material discussed illustrates the main three themes that the authors agree on and put forward as features that are present in their work with violent and suicidal patients.

The first is the idea that, in common with most borderline patients, there is a failure to mentalise the self's own or the object's mental states. That is, to internalise a function that will enable the subject to deal with mental states (needs, desires, sensations etc). This function needs to be developed from an early age and in the relationship with the maternal object when the child seeks in his primary object the possibility of getting a representation of his own states of mind. One of the relevant consequences of the failure in the development of this function is that it may leave the child with only the possibility of experiencing his states of mind as body states and processes that need to be evacuated (discharged). This formulation may offer a particular explanation for why the violent response and not another kind may be the recourse of some borderline patients. For instance, in the words of one of Fonagy and Target's patients: "If I kill you, I won't have to think about what you think" (page 55). The violent act thus becomes an attempt "to attack thoughts in oneself or the other" (ibid). All the authors to a large extent seem to coincide in thinking that the violent act, be it against an external or internal object (as in the case of attempted suicide), is a fragile, desperate attempt to maintain a certain degree of [precarious] life in the self and it offers aa delusional sense of safety.

One of the corollaries of the failure to mentalise is that it institutes a particular kind of internal object relationship - more specifically with the maternal object - that is typified, alternatively, by a fear of engulfment or abandonment. Most of the authors use Glasser's 'core complex' to describe the nature of these ties. If the patient is understood, he may feel engulfed and if not understood, he may feel abandoned, rejected or criticised, mirroring in that way the characteristics of their earlier experience of their ties to the maternal object. A sado-masochistic object relationship (usually between ego and superego) gets established to 'modulate' between these two extreme sets of experience.

All the authors coincide in saying that the problems that arise from the core complex (and this would be the second main unifying theme of the book) call for the presence of the paternal figure as one that will either serve as an alternative or draw the child away froma traumatising situation. The role of the father (the 'third') in the case of these patients becomes crucial. The authors coincide in illustrating how there have been serious problems with the father's 'presence'. In the treatment situation, this presents particular problems. The possibility of finding a third position from where to be able to reflect on what is going on with the patient becomes very difficult as the patient will tend to draw the analyst into a 'safe' sado-masochistic exchange that masks the patient's predicament.

The third main idea, described by Perelberg herself as central to patients prone to acts of violence, is the existence of a core phantasy that conceives the primal scene as one where there is no father but mother and patient engaged in a violent intercourse.

In having done the injustice of schematising the three main ideas of this book encountered by this reader, I hope I have conveyed that this book constitutes an important contribution to the understanding of those patients that engage in violent acts. I felt the need for further elucidation on the difference between an actual suicidal act and a violent attack against another. The book offers a contribution for all those that are engaged in clinical work with violent and suicidal patients. As a bonus, most of the patients described in this book are young adults and in the clincal descriptions one can perceive those specific developmental aspects of the transition from adolescence to adulthood that bear an influence on this kind of psychopatholgy. However, the ideas presented can be of great value to anyone working with these often worrying, if not frightening, individuals.

Senator Smith's book is an easy, well written read about a wonderful son, a close knit family and the joys and heartache of life. The overlay is realizing that ones child is battling mental illness before you the parent fully understands. Senator Smith lovingly talks about Garrett's "angel mother" and his self doubts (and guilt) about what he should have realized; what he could have done better. The book ends with a reach out to encourage others in the same situation to recognize the signs of depression and to get help early. By telling his family's story Senator Smith honors Garrett, travels the road of healing, and brings compassion to the thousands of families that find themselves in the same boat after a precious child's suicide. You really don't want to miss this book!

The book was excellent. Very well written. An excellent story and eye opener of where depression and mental illness can lead if unchecked. I thouroughly enjoyed the book and will re-read it many times. cp

This was a heartfelt telling of one family's struggle with coping with their feelings of guilt in missing the clues to their son's severe depression, which ultimately lead to his taking his own life. It shows us how easy it is for those closest to someone to not see how much that person is struggling with their depression, and how a family can heal after the loss of that child. Keep the tissues nearby, but no matter your politics, you have compassion for the depth of dispair this family reached in dealing with their loss. For a public figure such as Sen. Gordon Smith , writing this book exposing their heartache, took a great deal of courage, but was a big step in their healing.

I must admit. I didn't vote for Gordon Smith last time around. As a "dyed-in-the-wool" Democrat, I usually support my party candidates. Yet, he was re-elected, and is currently serving as a Republican senator from Oregon. In 2003, his son Garrett committed suicide, ending a long struggle with depression. Immediately my interest was peaked, as someone who suffering from episodic depression from time to time. With his usual composure, Senator Smith remained quiet about this intensely personal matter. And now, a few years later, Gordon Smith has written a book about his son, a stunning, personal memoir, "Remembering Garrett".

The book is partially a recounting of the amazingly normal life of Garrett Smith, the struggles he had with dyslexia, and the few brief successes he had with his church. Smith writes as lovingly and honestly as any parent could; reflecting upon his son's life with a familial quality that is pleasing to read. What even surprised me more about the book was how Smith wrote about questioning himself after Garrett's suicide. Smith has always appear strong and resolute; this event clearly shook him to the core.

Much too often, it appears that our politicians act without much forethought of the consequences of their actions. Clearly, this has changes Senator Smith's thoughts and actions as he has become a tireless advocate for the prevention of depression. While clearly parents who have suffered the loss of a child will relish every page of this book, most everyone, especially those of us who experience depression, will find some gems of wisdom in this beautiful tribute to Garrett. This book is a must-read.