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baconsaur's review against another edition
informative
sad
medium-paced
4.0
This was very upsetting to read as it was published 7 years ago and is as relevant as ever. The book is best summed by James Gilligan, MD’s essay’s title, “The Issue is Dangerousness. Not Mental Illness,” though the following quote from Edwin B Fisher’s The Loneliness of Fateful Decisions is as pertinent as ever, again, SEVEN YEARS LATER:
“It is urgent for Americans to think and speak clearly about President Trump‘s inability to do either [i.e. think and speak clearly]. This seems to be not a mere disinclination but a disability. It is not merely the result of intellectual sloth but of an untrained mind bereft of information and married to stratospheric self-confidence…
His fathomless lack of interest in America’s path to the present and his limitless gullibility leave him susceptible to being blown about by gusts of factoids that cling like lint to a disorderly mind.”
“It is urgent for Americans to think and speak clearly about President Trump‘s inability to do either [i.e. think and speak clearly]. This seems to be not a mere disinclination but a disability. It is not merely the result of intellectual sloth but of an untrained mind bereft of information and married to stratospheric self-confidence…
His fathomless lack of interest in America’s path to the present and his limitless gullibility leave him susceptible to being blown about by gusts of factoids that cling like lint to a disorderly mind.”
ovenbird_reads's review against another edition
I didn't get through all of it. The gist is, he's insane and that's dangerous. But I think a lot of us already knew that.
jennog's review against another edition
5.0
Required reading for all (not just Americans)
I'd like to start off by saying, if anyone has a book with as well-researched, well-documented counterarguments by psychiatrists, I'd love to check it out. (I sincerely doubt that there is, but I have to ask.)
I also acknowledge the criticisms that this book is repetitive. It can be, but I think each essay adds nuance and no argument is exactly alike.
That being said, I believe in the purpose of publishing this book, which is sharing information (or warning the masses) based off professional insights on publicly available information. AKA everyone has been exposed to 45's antics, so let's not pretend we can't see and hear the things he says. And hey, while we're at it, let's ask people who work with human behavior patterns for a living.
There are a lot of labels thrown around by each writer, but they back up their arguments, so you be the judge.
I appreciate that some writers acknowledged the difference between what this book is and how is relates/differs from the Goldwater rule. For all one-star raters out there, I have a feeling you didn't get to Part 2 of this book. And if you did, I'm sure you were triggered by Part 3, where it relates trauma and this presidency.
As a psychology major and public health professional, I fully support healthcare professionals providing their best professional judgment to the public. If the people who do this for a living sense danger, I'm glad they're letting me know. (Not that I didn't already feel and see the danger myself but I guess I'm feeling the confirmation bias seep in. Again, if anyone has EVIDENCE-BASED counterarguments, I'm all ears.)
My favorite chapters were by Harper West, Nanette Gartrell, and Tony Schwartz.
I'd like to start off by saying, if anyone has a book with as well-researched, well-documented counterarguments by psychiatrists, I'd love to check it out. (I sincerely doubt that there is, but I have to ask.)
I also acknowledge the criticisms that this book is repetitive. It can be, but I think each essay adds nuance and no argument is exactly alike.
That being said, I believe in the purpose of publishing this book, which is sharing information (or warning the masses) based off professional insights on publicly available information. AKA everyone has been exposed to 45's antics, so let's not pretend we can't see and hear the things he says. And hey, while we're at it, let's ask people who work with human behavior patterns for a living.
There are a lot of labels thrown around by each writer, but they back up their arguments, so you be the judge.
I appreciate that some writers acknowledged the difference between what this book is and how is relates/differs from the Goldwater rule. For all one-star raters out there, I have a feeling you didn't get to Part 2 of this book. And if you did, I'm sure you were triggered by Part 3, where it relates trauma and this presidency.
As a psychology major and public health professional, I fully support healthcare professionals providing their best professional judgment to the public. If the people who do this for a living sense danger, I'm glad they're letting me know. (Not that I didn't already feel and see the danger myself but I guess I'm feeling the confirmation bias seep in. Again, if anyone has EVIDENCE-BASED counterarguments, I'm all ears.)
My favorite chapters were by Harper West, Nanette Gartrell, and Tony Schwartz.
tignorjl's review against another edition
2.0
I tried, but I just couldn't. I felt like I was pretty much reading the same thing over and over and over again. Finally, one of my coworkers, convinced me to just give up. I'm feeling pretty OK about the decision.
amber_lea84's review against another edition
3.0
Well, I can pretty much sum up my thoughts with one word: Duh.
I didn't actually pick this book up and decide to read it now. I've had it checked out from the library for like eight or nine months thanks to the coronavirus. Obviously, this was written before Trump was impeached or before he decided to let hundreds of thousands of people die to save "the economy" (and by "the economy," I mean his reelection chances.)
Jesus Christ. Actually writing it makes it feel so real.
Needless to say, it's kind of a pointless read if you're familiar with Trump and the concept of narcissism. There were a few gems in there, and I totally agree with the need to rethink the goldwater rule, but psychology is still kind of an embarrassing field and some of these essays are painful to read. It's also really repetitive, and the essays reference each other which just makes it worse. This book definitely could have benefited from being an actual book and not a series of essays. But if they were trying to publish this as quickly as possible, it makes sense that they did it this way.
I was really hoping there would be some deep insights in here, but I guess the problem is that most of the authors don't know much more than I do, in the sense that they're not each historians and biographers and psychologists and whatever else, though a few essays do dive into history (and one guy was Trump's biographer) and I did come away with a handful of new information. But most of the essays are pretty surface level, stating the obvious about Trump being a power obsessed megalomaniac who can't feel empathy.
I wish there was more about the psychology of a Trump supporter, or the psychology of dictators in general because I thought those were the most interesting parts. Overall I'd say the book was 20% awesome, 30% pretty good, and 50% blah, blah, blah.
But I want to acknowledge I'm being extra harsh on this book because I'm reading it NOW. Back when it was written it was a much ballsier move to step up and say all this because people were still trying to pretend that maybe everything was okay. If you don't know much about psychology and you don't read the news much and you're late to the party and this book sounds interesting to you, by all means, read it. But if you're not a psych noob and you read the news constantly, it's probably not worth your time.
I didn't actually pick this book up and decide to read it now. I've had it checked out from the library for like eight or nine months thanks to the coronavirus. Obviously, this was written before Trump was impeached or before he decided to let hundreds of thousands of people die to save "the economy" (and by "the economy," I mean his reelection chances.)
Jesus Christ. Actually writing it makes it feel so real.
Needless to say, it's kind of a pointless read if you're familiar with Trump and the concept of narcissism. There were a few gems in there, and I totally agree with the need to rethink the goldwater rule, but psychology is still kind of an embarrassing field and some of these essays are painful to read. It's also really repetitive, and the essays reference each other which just makes it worse. This book definitely could have benefited from being an actual book and not a series of essays. But if they were trying to publish this as quickly as possible, it makes sense that they did it this way.
I was really hoping there would be some deep insights in here, but I guess the problem is that most of the authors don't know much more than I do, in the sense that they're not each historians and biographers and psychologists and whatever else, though a few essays do dive into history (and one guy was Trump's biographer) and I did come away with a handful of new information. But most of the essays are pretty surface level, stating the obvious about Trump being a power obsessed megalomaniac who can't feel empathy.
I wish there was more about the psychology of a Trump supporter, or the psychology of dictators in general because I thought those were the most interesting parts. Overall I'd say the book was 20% awesome, 30% pretty good, and 50% blah, blah, blah.
But I want to acknowledge I'm being extra harsh on this book because I'm reading it NOW. Back when it was written it was a much ballsier move to step up and say all this because people were still trying to pretend that maybe everything was okay. If you don't know much about psychology and you don't read the news much and you're late to the party and this book sounds interesting to you, by all means, read it. But if you're not a psych noob and you read the news constantly, it's probably not worth your time.
wildgurl's review against another edition
4.0
I loved this book......it says alot about people by their reaction to this book.....
My thoughts kept going to...does anyone care about this man? does anyone care enough to get him help? where is his family?
Inspiring....terrifying.....and sad
My thoughts kept going to...does anyone care about this man? does anyone care enough to get him help? where is his family?
Inspiring....terrifying.....and sad
morticia13's review against another edition
Got the gist. He's damaged and dangerous. Nothing I didn't figure out during the election but felt good to have some parameters made speciifc.
eserafina42's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars. Possibly it was the disturbing and depressing subject, possibly the fact that there are several different authors who of necessity repeat certain points, or maybe just that I was constrained by its availability at my library (since it's very much in demand so I could only get it when I was first in the list and also was not able to renew it) - but I feel that there is much more to this book that I got out of it. There are definitely a lot of important insights into various aspects of the "case," including the stressors and characteristics of the society that allows a man such as this to come to power and the effects on the population, particularly vulnerable and marginalized groups - as well as his own personal pathologies. The authors each dealt with the tension between the "Goldwater Rule" and the "duty to warn" in their own ways, which was a wise decision on the part of the editors, in my opinion.
sherming's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting and depressing. Twenty-seven people who know a lot about mental health give review of Donald Trump's mental state, and it's not pretty. The man holding the most power in the world is emotionally and developmentally stunted, lacks empathy, is possibly sociopathic, and has a host of other mental issues that probably make him incompetent to be in the office in which we find him.
This book is full of examples of his aberrant behavior from the campaign and the first couple of months of his time in office. I wonder what the experts would have to say about the rest of his time.
In the words of Rupert Giles from Buffy, the Vampire Slayer - "The Earth is doomed."
Oh, a few words on this work before I go. I was expecting a full-on politicized work bashing Trump, but most of the assessments are pretty objective. The work does get a bit repetitive as the experts come to the same conclusions and cite many of the same examples. I imagine it will become a fairly important work for historians who might look into the character of this character to see what he did and why.
This book is full of examples of his aberrant behavior from the campaign and the first couple of months of his time in office. I wonder what the experts would have to say about the rest of his time.
In the words of Rupert Giles from Buffy, the Vampire Slayer - "The Earth is doomed."
Oh, a few words on this work before I go. I was expecting a full-on politicized work bashing Trump, but most of the assessments are pretty objective. The work does get a bit repetitive as the experts come to the same conclusions and cite many of the same examples. I imagine it will become a fairly important work for historians who might look into the character of this character to see what he did and why.