000			05145cam a2200457 i 4500
005			20211105160433.0
008			980424s1994 nyu b 001 0deng d
010			_a 94016699
011			_aBIB MATCHES WORLDCAT
020			_a0195082877 _qalk. paper
020			_a9780195082876 _qalk. paper
020			_a0195113799 _qpbk.
020			_a9780195113792 _qpbk.
035			_a(ATU)b10713268
035			_a(DLC) 94016699
035			_a(OCoLC)30476830
040			_aDLC _beng _erda _dATU
050	0	0	_aBF39.4 _b.E46 1994
082	0	0	_a920.0019 _222
100	1		_aElms, Alan C., _d1938- _eauthor. _9409733
245	1	0	_aUncovering lives : _bthe uneasy alliance of biography and psychology / _cAlan C. Elms.
264		1	_aNew York : _bOxford University Press, _c1994.
300			_avi, 315 pages ; _c23 cm
336			_atext _btxt _2rdacontent
337			_aunmediated _bn _2rdamedia
338			_avolume _bnc _2rdacarrier
504			_aIncludes bibliographical references (pages 289-303) and index.
505	0		_aThe psychologist as biographer -- Starting from scratch -- Freud as Leonardo -- The auntification of C. G. Jung -- Allport meets Freud and the clean little boy -- Skinner's dark year and Walden two -- The thing from inner space: John W. Campbell, Robert E. Howard, and Cordwainer Smith -- Darker than he thought: the psychoanalysis of Jack Williamson -- Asimov as acrophobe -- The mother of Oz: L. Frand Baum -- Nabokov contra Freud -- Carter and character -- The counterplayers: George Bush and Saddam Hussein -- From Colonel House to General Haig -- Going beyond scratch.
520			_a"Psychobiography is often attacked by critics who feel that it trivializes complex adult personalities, "explaining the large deeds of great individuals," as George Will wrote, "by some slight the individual suffered at a tender age--say, 7, when his mother took away a lollipop." Worse yet,some writers have clearly abused psychobiography--for instance, to grind axes from the right (Nancy Clinch on the Kennedy family) or from the left (Fawn Brodie on Richard Nixon)--and others have offered woefully inept diagnoses (such as Albert Goldman's portrait of Elvis Presley as a "splitpersonality" and a "delusional paranoid"). And yet, as Alan Elms argues in Uncovering Lives, in the hands of a skilled practitioner, psychobiography can rival the very best traditional biography in the insights it offers. Elms makes a strong case for the value of psychobiography, arguing in large part from example. Indeed, most of the book features Elms's own fascinating case studies of over a dozen prominent figures, among them Sigmund Freud (the father of psychobiography), B.F. Skinner, Isaac Asimov, L. FrankBaum, Vladimir Nabokov, Jimmy Carter, George Bush, Saddam Hussein, and Henry Kissinger. These profiles make intriguing reading. For example, Elms discusses the fiction of Isaac Asimov in light of the latter's acrophobia (fear of heights) and mild agoraphobia (fear of open spaces)--and Elms includesexcerpts from a series of letters between himself and Asimov. He reveals an unintended subtext of The Wizard of Oz--that males are weak, females are strong (think of Scarecrow, Tin Man, the Lion, and the Wizard, versus the good and bad witches and Dorothy herself)--and traces this in part to Baum'schildhood heart disease, which kept him from strenuous activity, and to his relationship with his mother-in-law, Matilda Joslyn Gage, a distinguished advocate of women's rights. And in a fascinating chapter, he examines the abused childhood of Saddam Hussein, the privileged childhood of George Bush,and the radically different psychological paths that led these two men into the Persian Gulf War. Elms supports each study with extensive research, much of it never presented before--for instance, on how some of the most revealing portions of C.G. Jung's autobiography were deleted in spite of hisprotests before publication. Along the way, Elms provides much insight into how psychobiography is written. Finally, he proposes clear guidelines for judging high quality work, and offers practical tips for anyone interested in writing in this genre. Written with great clarity and wit, Uncovering Lives illuminates the contributions that psychology can make to biography. Elms's enthusiasm for his subject is contagious and will inspire would-be psychobiographers as well as win over the most hardened skeptics."--Publisher description.
588			_aMachine converted from AACR2 source record.
650		0	_aPsychology _xBiographical methods _9326748
650		0	_aBiography as a literary form _9314554
650		0	_aPsychologists _xPsychology _vCase studies _9789644
650		0	_aPoliticians _xPsychology _vCase studies _9789647
650		0	_aAuthors _xPsychology _vCase studies _9621782
856	4	2	_3Contributor biographical information _uhttp://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0724/94016699-b.html
907			_a.b10713268 _b10-06-19 _c27-10-15
998			_a(4)b _a(4)c _b06-04-16 _cm _da _feng _gnyu _h0
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999			_c1138686 _d1138686