New Releases by Andrew Solomon

Resultado de uma ampla investigação sobre as tensões entre identidade e diferença em famílias com filhos portadores de deficiências físicas, mentais e sociais, Longe da árvore é um ensaio monumental sobre a tolerância e a valorização da diversidade. Eleito um dos melhores livros do século XXI pelo The New York Times. Diagnosticado com dislexia na infância, Andrew Solomon conta que a superação dessa deficiência só foi possível porque ele pôde contar com a paciente dedicação dos pais num lar estruturado. Criado num ambiente privilegiado, Solomon sempre teve acesso a todo afeto e atenção terapêutica necessários ao tratamento. Entretanto, quando sua homossexualidade latente transpareceu na adolescência, os mesmos pais que sempre o haviam cercado de carinho e compreensão reagiram com intolerância e vergonha. Muitos anos depois, para tentar entender as relações entre essas duas identidades divergentes das expectativas dos pais, e como elas puderam provocar sentimentos tão antagônicos, o autor realizou uma abrangente pesquisa sobre o universo da diversidade em famílias com filhos marcados pela excepcionalidade. Surdos, anões, portadores de síndrome de Down, autistas, esquizofrênicos, portadores de deficiências múltiplas, crianças prodígios, filhos concebidos por estupro, transgêneros e menores infratores: dez "identidades horizontais" (isto é, divergentes dos padrões familiares, linguísticos e sociais predeterminados), sujeitas em graus distintos a influências genéticas e ambientais, compõem a constelação de temas deste magnífico tour de force sobre os sentidos de ser diferente e, principalmente, de aprender a amar e respeitar as diferenças. "Longe da árvore começa como um estudo sobre pais tentando educar crianças ''complicadas'', e acaba como uma afirmação do que é ser humano." - The Guardian "Muitos livros nos ajudam a pensar em temas morais... Mas poucos me fizeram sentir questões morais tão intensamente quanto este." - New York Magazine "Fazendo uma matéria sobre o Google, descobri que uma das dez perguntas mais feitas no mecanismo de busca é ''O que é o amor?''. No futuro, o Google fará bem se indicar o extraordinário livro de Andrew Solomon àqueles que digitarem essa recorrente questão." - Tim Adams, The Observer "Andrew Solomon nos faz lembrar que nada é tão poderoso no desenvolvimento de uma criança quanto o amor dos pais." - Bill Clinton "Este é um dos livros mais extraordinários que li nos últimos tempos - corajoso, sensível e assombrosamente humano." - Siddhartha Mukherjee, autor de O imperador de todos os males "Longe da árvore é um marco, um livro revolucionário. Andrew Solomon encara seu tema a fundo, humanamente, com um estilo que torna a leitura compulsiva, tão aliciante quanto esclarecedora." - Jennifer Egan, autora de A visita cruel do tempo

The debut novel, first published nearly twenty years ago, from the National Book Award-winning author of The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression and Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity--a luminous and moving evocation of the love between a son and his mother. A finalist for the Los Angeles Times First Fiction prize, A Stone Boat is an achingly beautiful, deeply perceptive story of family, sexuality, and the startling changes wrought by grief, loss, and self-discovery. Harry, an internationally celebrated young concert pianist, travels to Paris to confront his glamorous and formidable mother about her dismay at his homosexuality. Before he can give voice to his hurt and anger, he discovers that she is terminally ill. In an attempt to escape his feelings of guilt and despair over the prospect of her death, he embarks on several intense affairs--one with a longtime female friend--that force him to question his capacity for love, and finally to rediscover it. Part eulogy, part confession, and part soliloquy on forgiveness, A Stone Boat is a luminous evocation of the destructive and regenerative, all-encompassing love between a son and his mother, by America''s foremost chronicler of personal and familial resilience.

Wie geht man damit um, wenn die eigenen Kinder ganz anders sind als man selbst, was bedeutet das für sie und ihre Familien? Und wie akzeptieren wir und unsere Gesellschaft außergewöhnliche Menschen? Ein eindrucksvolles Buch über das Elternsein, über die Kraft der Liebe, aber auch darüber, was unsere Identität ausmacht. Der Bestsellerautor Andrew Solomon hat mit über 300 Familien gesprochen, deren Kinder außergewöhnlich oder hochbegabt sind, die am Down-Syndrom oder an Schizophrenie leiden, Autisten, taub oder kleinwüchsig sind. Ihre Geschichten sind einzigartig, doch ihre Erfahrungen des "Andersseins" sind universell. Ihr Mut, ihre Lebensfreude und ihr Glück konfrontieren uns mit uns selbst und lassen niemanden unberührt.

* Selected as One of the Best Books of the 21st Century by The New York Times * * WINNER of the National Book Critics Circle Award * Books for a Better Life Award * The New York Times Book Review’s 10 Best Books of the Year * This masterpiece by the National Book Award–winning author of The Noonday Demon features stories of parents who not only learn to deal with their exceptional children, but also find profound meaning in doing so—“a brave, beautiful book that will expand your humanity” (People). Solomon’s startling proposition in Far from the Tree is that being exceptional is at the core of the human condition—that difference is what unites us. He writes about families coping with deafness, dwarfism, Down syndrome, autism, schizophrenia, or multiple severe disabilities; with children who are prodigies, who are conceived in rape, who become criminals, who are transgender. While each of these characteristics is potentially isolating, the experience of difference within families is universal, and Solomon documents triumphs of love over prejudice in every chapter. All parenting turns on a crucial question: to what extent should parents accept their children for who they are, and to what extent they should help them become their best selves. Drawing on ten years of research and interviews with more than three hundred families, Solomon mines the eloquence of ordinary people facing extreme challenges. Elegantly reported by a spectacularly original and compassionate thinker, Far from the Tree explores how people who love each other must struggle to accept each other—a theme in every family’s life.

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

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.

Three doctors and a health care finance expert tell it like it is with real-life stories and techniques to inform and empower patients in today''s complex health care system. Information includes choosing the doctor best suited for your personality, how to take advantage of your benefits and avoid pitfalls of medical care systems, and much more.

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.

Blake''s interpretation in words and pictures of the story of Job contains his most mature, concise and direct statement of the theme which is central to all his work, the spiritual and psychological development of a human life. He wrote of man''s ''Fall into Division and his Resurrection to Unity''; and all his works have the purpose of illuminating the path which can lead from the state of ''Error'' and inner conflict, into which all unavoidably fall, towards one of true vision, wholeness and inward peace. His perception of the nature of ''Error'', or delusion, and of what must be faced if it is to be overcome, is conveyed, not only in rational terms, but also through images which touch the less rational levels of the mind, objectifying the conflicting forces which are at work. This makes it possible to think constructively about them and to uncover the delusions instead of simply being possessed by them. The emphasis is on his spiritual and psychological message and its direct relevance to the individual life rather than on ''Blake scholarship''; and that message points the way to a very positive philosophy of life, based on knowing and understanding, not on belief; it also gives a remarkably clear and unified view of the psychological patterns of life, arguably adding a new dimension to our understanding.