Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library

Twilight of American sanity, a psychiatrist analyzes the age of Trump, Allen Frances, MD

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 301-314) and index

index present

non fiction

Twilight of American sanity

bibliography

1002854339

Allen Frances, MD

a psychiatrist analyzes the age of Trump

It is comforting to see President Donald Trump as a crazy man, a one-off, an exception -- not a reflection on us or our democracy. But in ways I never anticipated, his rise was absolutely predictable and a mirror on our soul. What does it say about us, that we elected someone so manifestly unfit and unprepared to determine mankind's future? Trump is a symptom of a world in distress, not its sole cause. Blaming him for all our troubles misses the deeper, underlying societal sickness that made possible his unlikely ascent. Calling Trump crazy allows us to avoid confronting the craziness in our society -- if we want to get sane, we must first gain insight about ourselves. Simply put: Trump isn't crazy, but our society is. More than three years in the making: the world's leading expert on psychiatric diagnosis, past leader of the American Psychiatric Association's DSM ("the bible of psychology"), and author of the influential international bestseller on the medicalization of ordinary life, Saving Normal, draws upon his vast experience to deliver a powerful critique of modern American society's collective slide away from sanity and offers an urgently needed prescription for reclaiming our bearings. Widely cited in recent months as the man who quite literally wrote the diagnostic criteria for narcissism, Allen Frances, M.D., has been at the center of the debate surrounding President Trump's mental state -- quoted in Evan Osnos's May 2017 New Yorker article ("How Trump Could Get Fired") and publishing a much-shared opinion letter in the New York Times ("An Eminent Psychiatrist Demurs on Trump's Mental State"). Frances argues that Trump is "bad, not mad" -- and that the real question to wrestle with is how we as a country could have chosen him as our leader. Twilight of American Sanity is an essential work for understanding our national crisis

Trump isn't crazy. We are. -- Confronting the facts of life -- Why we make such bad decisions -- American exceptionalism -- How could a Trump triumph? -- Trump, tribalism, and the attack on democracy -- Defending democracy: the path forward -- Sustaining our brave new world -- the pursuit of happiness -- Team Earth -- Whither mankind?