Amer Mania Pa

by Whybrow,Peter C.

• ISBN13: 9780393328493
• ISBN10: 039332849X
• Edition: 00
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-04-17
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Summary

A doctor's bold analysis of the cultural disease that afflicts us all. Despite an astonishing appetite for life, more and more Americans are feeling overworked and dissatisfied. In the world's most affluent nation, epidemic rates of stress, anxiety, depression, obesity, and time urgency are now grudgingly accepted as part of everyday existence--they signal the American Dream gone awry. Peter C. Whybrow, director of the Neuropsychiatric Institute at UCLA, grounds the extraordinary achievements and excessive consumption of the American nation in an understanding of the biology of the brain's reward system--offering for the first time a comprehensive and physical explanation for the addictive mania of consumerism. American Mania presents a clear and novel vantage point from which to understand the most pressing social issues of our time, while offering an informed approach to refocusing our pursuit of happiness. Drawing upon rich scientific case studies and colorful portraits, "this fascinating and important book will change the way you think about American life" (Karen Olson, Utne Reader).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xv
Preface	xvii
Introduction THE MANIC SOCIETY	1	(20)
Part I THE AMERICAN TEMPERAMENT: A MANIA FOR PROSPERITY
Chapter One ADAM SMITH'S AMERICAN DREAM: OF DESIRE AND DEBT	21	(28)
Chapter Two CURIOSITY AND THE PROMISED LAND: OF ORIGINS AND OPPORTUNISM	49	(26)
Chapter Three THE FREEDOM TO STRIVE: OF RISK AND REWARD	75	(30)
Part II OVER THE TOP: PROSPERITY'S PARADOX
Chapter Four AMERICA BUBBLES OVER: OF GLOBALIZATION AND GREED	105	(26)
Chapter Five A GROWING BURDEN: OF APPETITE AND ABUNDANCE	131	(26)
Chapter Six THE TIME TRADE: OF CLOCKS AND COMPETITION	157	(28)
Part III MORE IS ENOUGH: PROSPERITY RECONSIDERED
Chapter Seven DREAMS FOR SALE: OF CULTURE AND COMMERCE	185	(26)
Chapter Eight THE ROOTS OF HAPPINESS: OF COMPASSION AND COMMUNITY	211	(24)
Chapter Nine FINDING BALANCE IN THE AGE OF THE MERCHANT: OF SELF AND SOCIETY	235	(30)
Notes	265	(58)
Index	323