Fool's Paradise: The Unreal World of Pop Psychology

Fool's Paradise: The Unreal World of Pop Psychology

by StewartJustman (Author)

Synopsis

Award-winning essayist Stewart Justman traces the inspiration of the pop psychology movement to the utopianism of the 1960s and argues that it consistently misuses the rhetoric that grew out of the civil rights movement. Speaking as it does in the name of our right to happiness, pop psychology promises liberation from all that interferes with our power to create the selves we want. In so doing, Mr. Justman writes, it not only defies reality but corrodes the traditions and attachments that give depth and richness to human life.

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 276
Publisher: Ivan R Dee, Inc
Published: 25 Sep 2005

ISBN 10: 1566636280
ISBN 13: 9781566636285

Media Reviews
Pop psychology has been unmasked before, but English professor Stewart Justman provides a fresh critical angle. -- David J. Pittenger, associate provost for academic administration at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Justman's witty and astringent appraisal of the world of pop psychology...is an essential social corrective as well as a vastly entertaining and stimulating book. * Memestreams.Net *
Justman exposes successfully the shallowness of pop psychology theory. -- Lennart Sjoberg * American Psychological Foundation *
Excellent cautionary reading.... Justman delivers a sustained, entertaining attack on self-help's claims, conventions, and contradictions. -- Janet Ingraham Dwyer * Library Journal *
If you've been hoping for a brutally rational answer to Iyanla et al, look no further. * Ruminator *
Provides a passionate examination of its foundations and dangers. -- Diane C. Donovan, editor, Midwest Book Review * Midwest Book Review *
Fool's Paradise is indeed a learned book. -- Bradley Kreit * California Literary Review *
Erudite yet lively. -- Kenneth Silber * Scientific American Minds *
An intriguing look at popular psychology. * Forecast *
Author Bio
Stewart Justman won the PEN Award for the Art of the Essay for his book Seeds of Mortality, published by Ivan R. Dee in 2003. Mr. Justman teaches English at the University of Montana and has also written The Springs of Liberty and The Psychological Mystique. He is married with two children and lives in Missoula, Montana.