New Releases by Andrew Solomon

Den amerikanske forfatter og journalist (f. 1963) har selv været gennem helvedes malmstrøm og retur. I en blanding af det personlige og det universelle skriver han sig nærmere gennem depressionens inderste væsen.

Information on the U.S. State Dept. program that exhibits original U.S. art in the public rooms of American embassies worldwide. Includes a searchable database of art works with images.

" J''aime ma dépression. J''aime l''homme qu''elle a fait de moi. C''est elle qui m''a permis de connaître l''étendue de mon âme... Avec ce livre dont le sujet nous concerne tous, Andrew Solomon ajoute au témoignage de son expérience personnelle la richesse de son érudition. Synthèse historique, sociologique, psychiatrique, médicale, cette somme extrêmement bien documentée s''attaque avec une profonde sincérité aux démons destructeurs de ce mal qu''Emily Dickinson appelait " l''enterrement de l''esprit ". Ce livre sur la souffrance intérieure, qui fait déjà autorité sur la question, est surtout un témoignage d''espoir, émouvant et sensible, invitant à découvrir, au fond du trou noir où chacun peut un jour se trouver, des forces positives et salvatrices insoupçonnées. " Un essai captivant, d''une stupéfiante richesse. Un ouvrage indispensable sur la dépression. " William Styron " Andrew Solomon consacra à la dépression un essai provocant et souvent touchant. Une indéniable réussite. " Joyce Carol Oates

C''est à Paris, au Ritz, que l''univers de Harry, jeune pianiste de la grande bourgeoisie new-yorkaise, se lézarde. Sa mère, une femme élégante et mondaine qu''il adule même si elle déplore son homosexualité, est atteinte d''un cancer. Durant deux années, Harry va tenir la chronique infiniment sensible et juste des épreuves et révélations qui succèdent à ce verdict. Retraçant son parcours sentimental chaotique, évoquant les souvenirs lumineux d''un bonheur familial sur le point de se briser, décrivant la progression de la maladie et la déchéance de cette femme si peu faite pour la laideur et la mort, il effectue un émouvant travail de deuil et dresse, en esthète, un superbe monument à la mémoire de sa mère.

Jerusalem, the last and most fully developed version of Blake''s personal myth, is recognised as an important part of our cultural heritage, apparently full of deep meaning. But exactly what that meaning is has been little understood. At first sight Blake''s poem lacks narrative continuity, presents no clear argument and shows little structural cohesion, while his illustrations, beautiful though they are, are often difficult to relate to the text. Yet underlying its baffling surface there is a coherent and relatively simple pattern, and this reveals in a unique way the psychological and spiritual processes that shape our lives and give them direction. Blake wrote of Man''s "Fall into Division and his Resurrection to Unity". The pattern symbolised by the Fall occurs inevitably in every human life and it accounts for all that is evil and destructive in human behaviour and all the inner conflicts by which we are torn. While we cannot avoid it, it is open to us as individuals eventually to rise above it, to become free of those conflicts and of the compulsive behaviour associated with them. This is not just another academic interpretation. Blake''s myth is considered here in a way that explains our conflicts and their origins in the delusions that we cling to. It leads to the point of letting go of the central delusion, that concerning one''s own identity, or ''ego'', which is a supremely challenging act of self-liberation -- Blake calls it the ''annihilation of the selfhood'' -- leading to the ''Resurrection to Unity''. Blake''s art and poetry help to evoke disruptive forces active within us which we prefer to keep hidden, but which we need to face intelligently if we are to become free of them. Not surprisingly, many people find this disturbing; but it can be immeasurably rewarding. Nowadays there is considerable interest in Eastern teachings which have a similar purpose; but our typical Western starting point, conditioned by centuries of Judaeo-Christian teaching of an external law-giving God, is different from that of, say, Buddhists or Hindus, for whom the supreme authority is to be found within. Blake''s myth reflects Western conditioning and the particular patterns that result from it, which we may be able to recognise in ourselves; but its end-point, freedom from all conditioning, is universal. Illustrations include a complete reproduction of one of Blake''s black and white copies of Jerusalem.

Offers suggestions for selecting the right physician, taking advantage of the benefits and avoiding the pitfalls of the health-care system, getting the right insurance, and preserving patient rights.

Een boot van steen. - Een jonge, rijke en getalenteerde pianist vertelt over de uiteindelijk zelfgekozen dood van zijn moeder die kanker had en aan wie hij, ondanks haar afkeer van zijn homosexualiteit, zeer gehecht was.

Showscases the work of 33 painters who have chosen to remain in post-communist Russia

Many people have become disillusioned with traditional religious beliefs; but there is a different way of making sense of life which is founded neither on blind belief nor on arbitrary assumptions, but on what we know directly in ourselves, on meaningfulness. The enormous success of science in its proper field has led most of us to ignore the true nature and limits of rational thinking and to assume that there is no kind of truth which it cannot grasp. Yet the most important truths of all, concerning the meaning of life, are quite outside its reach. But that does not mean that they are beyond our reach.