And This Our Life

New Book Continues Where Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’ Leaves Off

“Pride and Prejudice” has been a favorite of Jane Austen fans since its publication in 1813. In “And This Our Life: Chronicles of the Darcy Family Book I” (published by iUniverse - http://www.iuniverse.com), C. Allyn Pierson picks up where Jane Austen left off, taking readers through the engagement and first year of marriage of Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy.

As the book opens, readers are immediately embroiled in the hectic preparations of the Bennet family for the double wedding of daughters Elizabeth and Jane. In the whirlwind events of the early chapters, “And This Our Life” re-introduces Georgiana Darcy, a character relatively underdeveloped by Austen. Pierson gives her readers insight into Georgiana’s shy nature and anxiety over assuming her role as a woman in Regency-era high society.

As Pierson weaves the saga of the Bennet and Darcy families, she focuses on the hurdles Elizabeth faces as she endeavors to settle into life as a married woman. Elizabeth finally prevails when she conducts her first holiday ball at Pemberley, the Darcy ancestral estate, successfully introducing herself and the Bennet family to the country gentry.

Flush from her success, Elizabeth then turns her attention to young Georgiana Darcy, intent on drawing her young sister-in-law out of her shell. In the course of becoming friends, young Georgiana confesses that she is in love. As with any Austen book, the heroine devises a plan to bring her new friend together with her desired suitor:

I always worshipped him as a child and thought of him as almost another brother, but it was not until my stupidity with Wickham that I realized that I had let a foolish, romantic tale almost make me do something that would ruin my life, as well as the lives of my relations. Colonel Fitzwilliam came to see me afterwards and he had not one word of blame for me; his only concern was for my well-being. My brother was of course the same, but he is my brother, not a cousin who has been saddled with the guardianship of a stupid young girl. I think that was the moment when I realized that I had always loved him, and not merely as a brother!

“And This Our Life” expertly incorporates Austen’s characters and comedic style to weave a colorful and whimsical story that will engross even the staunchest Jane Austen fan.

About the Author: C. Allyn Pierson is a mother of two and a dermatologist who lives in Fort Dodge, Iowa, with her husband.

56 Water Street

It is the close of the school year and summer break is about to begin in a small Ontario town. For 10-year-old best friends Derek and Ravine, the summer holds an adventure they could never have imagined. Melissa Strangway’s “56 Water Street” (published by iUniverse - http://www.iuniverse.com) depicts a tale of trust, friendship and love intertwined with a 100-year-old mystery.

The old house on Water Street has never drawn much attention. No one lives there and no one goes there. Derek and Ravine have certainly never paid much attention to number 56. That is until the day they notice something strange about the house; the kitchen lights keep flickering on and off. As if in a trance, the two young friends venture closer and closer to the house until they can see inside the house and the figure standing in the kitchen. The specter jolts them out of their trance and the two sprint for the safety of the sidewalk and the people bustling on the neighborhood street. Thus begins a summer that will change the two friends forever.

As the story of “56 Water Street” unfolds for the two young protagonists, fear gives way to curiosity and ultimately, determination. Derek and Ravine befriend the spirit that inhabits the old house and vow to uncover the riddle that surrounds the house and the fate that brought their new friend to her current predicament:

There it was. Number 56 Water Street. The house loomed over all the others on the block. It seemed darker and gloomier than the rest of the street and, whether the sky was cloudy or sunny, the house always had its own shadow. As she watched the weeping willow in the front yard swaying gently, she noticed that the breeze didn’t affect any other trees or flowers. A darkness fell over her, sending a chill up her spine. It made her shiver, and she turned away from the window, quickly shutting the curtains. As she leaned against her pillow, she thought about phoning Derek. But it was close to ten and, although the school year was almost over, he’d probably be getting ready for bed. Even if he wasn’t, his mom would lecture her about phoning so late. Better not, she thought.

“56 Water Street” is a charming and expertly crafted story that will appeal to readers of all ages. Strangway’s inaugural novel masterfully combines a heartwarming story of adolescent friendship with a paranormal mystery reminiscent of the works of C.S. Adler and Katherine Paterson.

About the Author: Melissa Strangway was raised in the prairie region of Canada, but now resides in southern Ontario. She divides her time between raising her children, writing and designing an exclusive line of one-of-a-kind party clothing for children.

Hearts of Stone

New Book Shares Prophetic Dreams, Urges Readers to Follow God’s Plan
In kate’s new memoir, “Hearts of Stone” (published by AuthorHouse - http://www.authorhouse.com), she chronicles her prophetic dreams and urgently informs the readers of the need to heed the Godly message behind them.

From a young age, kate has had dreams that she cannot reason away as figments of her imagination. She is convinced, because of the prophetic nature of these dreams which predict events two weeks into the future, that they are visions from God. As a child, kate did not understand these dreams, and as an adult, she cannot recount them to others without condemnation.

“Hearts of Stone” chronicles the various dreams that kate has logged into a journal. Her earliest dreams involved an angel that would come up behind her, whisper into her right ear, and tell her messages to pass on to the world. Those messages would be followed by a prophetic vision. She has had dreams about the end of the world and AIDS; most importantly, they carry a message of peace. kate is earnest in her belief that her messages should affect everyone equally, regardless of religious affiliation. She writes:

There are many religions and many years ago God told me in a dream to take off my visors so I can understand. I did take off those visors. I stopped looking at one religion and I read them all. I found that they all say the same thing. Love God and love one another. We have fallen away from Gods messages when He gave the world religion. Now is our chance to find God once again. There may be many religions but there is only one God. If God thought we needed many versions of His laws then we should accept His decisions as the right decisions instead of trying to make our brothers conform to our beliefs. Our ways are not Gods ways, nor our thoughts Gods thoughts. These messages come from my God. I do not want anyone thinking I want them to change their religion or beliefs because of what I say. We all must find God in our own way, through peace. Without peace in your heart you shall never find God. Yet that is the hardest peace to find. I can spend a life time looking for God but if I do not have peace in my heart I would not find Him if He were standing right before my eyes. Hate blinds us.

kate shares these insights and many others in “Hearts of Stone,” speaking God’s truth through her own voice. “Though I have given the world messages for the past 30 years, no one is listening. No one has heard,” writes kate. “["Hearts of Stone"] is to wake everyone up. Shake them into consciousness. God is speaking to us once again and we should be listening to what He is saying.”

For more information, please visit http://www.HeartsofStonebyKateGessner.com.

Hearts of Stone is kate’s first book.

Professor Writes First Book about Life in the American College Town

In the first book written about life in U.S. college towns, a University of New Hampshire professor explores the distinctive character and culture of these exceptional places that are so prominently held in the American mind.

Blake Gumprecht, associate professor of geography and chair of the UNH Department of Geography, has published “The American College Town” (University of Massachusetts Press, 2008). In his new book, Gumprecht examines some of the most interesting aspects of college towns in the United States – their distinctive residential and commercial districts, their unconventional political cultures, their status as bohemian islands, and their emergence as high-tech centers.

“College towns are exceptional places, worth knowing and worth knowing about. They are an essential component of American geography. They are part of what makes life different in these United States. They reflect the singular nature of American higher education and the indelible characteristics of American culture,” Gumprecht says.

Despite thousands of professors living in college towns, academic research about them is limited. That Gumprecht’s book is the first written on the topic is due to academic far-sightedness and the natural human tendency to overlook what is all around us, he says.

“Research on local topics is perceived as parochial and counterproductive to building a national reputation necessary to earn tenure. But I also have found that professors who live in college towns are often oblivious to those characteristics that make them unusual,” says Gumprecht, a former newspaper reporter with a curious streak.

So what are some of those unusual characteristics? According to Gumprecht, the American college town is a youthful place that is home to highly educated residents who are likely to hold white-collar jobs. It is affluent compared to neighboring towns, but has high living costs, especially for housing. It is a transient place where residents are more likely to rent, live in apartments and have roommates. It is cosmopolitan, unconventional, and offers a high quality of life.

The geography of the American college town includes the odd mix of fraternity rows, student housing, and faculty enclaves. Commercial districts are home to interesting mixes of business – coffee houses, bookstores, pizzerias, bike shops, music stores, copy shops, bars, and ethnic restaurants. College towns are more politically liberal and politically engaged than their neighbors where people with widely differing backgrounds coexist. College sports play prominent roles in their culture, especially on weekends, and many are hubs for high-tech research. And college towns are home to the inevitable “town vs. gown” clashes between student renters and homeowners.

In researching the American college town, Gumprecht conducted more than 200 interviews, took 2,000 photographs and amassed enough material to fill three filing cabinets and a six-foot-long bookshelf. He visited numerous U.S. college towns, and several are explored in depth in the book. They include Norman, Oklahoma, Ithaca, New York; Manhattan, Kansas; Davis, California; Athens, Georgia; Auburn, Alabama; Ann Arbor, Michigan; and Newark, Delaware.

Gumprecht’s book has been praised by scholars nationwide.

“Thoroughly satisfying! Blake Gumprecht has given us a keenly observed, richly documented, many-sided account of a critically significant part of the American scene, one too long ignored by its scholarly residents. A truly brilliant achievement,” said Wilbur Zelinsky, author of “The Cultural Geography of the United States.”

“’The American College Town’ demonstrates Gumprecht’s knack for recognizing a great untold story. It also proves that it is actually possible to articulate that most elusive of geographical concepts, the sense of place, when the writer is a master of landscape observation, as Gumprecht unquestionably is. This book teaches readers how to see the meaning embedded in places we take for granted. Gumprecht’s exhaustive, multi-dimensional research enables him to read landscapes better than any historical geographer writing today,” said Anne Kelly Knowles, author of “Calvinists Incorporated: Welsh Immigrants on Ohio’s Industrial Frontier.”

A Trip to Remember’

New Children’s Book Shares the Delights of Traveling to Bangladesh

“A Trip to Remember” (published by AuthorHouse - http://www.authorhouse.com), the new illustrated children’s book by Rahima Karim, follows young Rana and his family to a bustling, vivid Bangladesh.

“A Trip to Remember” is based on the true adventures of Karim’s 3-year-old son’s first trip back to Bangladesh from the United States. From the viewpoint of her son, Karim is able to fully capture the tumult of emotions that the boy, Rana, feels about traveling to a foreign country for the first time.

Karim depicts the anticipation and excitement that Rana feels from the start while packing his things and awaiting the day of his trip. In describing the beginnings of Rana’s travels, Karim writes:

Rana did not sleep well the whole night. He was extremely excited and got up very early in the morning. Today was the day he would leave with his family for a long journey to Bangladesh. His parents told him Bangladesh was their homeland. But when they landed there, Rana felt very strange. The train ride from the city to the village was exciting. Both sides of the train showed a picturesque countryside. At his Grandma’s house, he saw farm animals and a world without electricity. He heard interesting stories from her. In three weeks things would seem so different to Rana. This would certainly be a trip to remember!

After a 30-hour plane ride, Rana awakes to the crowded streets of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. His uncle is there to greet Rana’s family and bring them back to meet the rest of his family. During Rana’s stay in Dhaka, he discovers a variety of new things and experiences, from the elephant rides of Dhaka’s zoos, to the beauty of its mustard fields, to its social structure and rich cultural heritage.

Karim enriches “A Trip to Remember” with educational facts about Bangladesh and world travel, which complement her captivating story for children who are eager to travel and learn about other countries. Take “A Trip to Remember” with Rana and get a glimpse of a world that is only a plane ride away.

Rahima Karim was born in Bangladesh. She received her master’s degree from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. She came to the U.S. in 1968 to join her husband. She has previously published four books in Bengali. “A Trip to Remember” is her English-language debut.

‘Here’s What It Takes … to Be Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise’

New Self-Help Book Sees Life as Pieces of a Puzzle, Offers Advice on Making Those Pieces Fit

“When trying to understand life, it helps to look at it like a puzzle with several big pieces that make a whole,” writes Dr. Linda A. Smith in her new self-help book, “Here’s What It Takes … to Be Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise” (published by AuthorHouse - http://www.authorhouse.com). “These puzzle pieces are actually the key areas of your life. This book is designed to help you identify and learn how to make the most of each one of those areas, and to understand how to fit them together to make life easier and better.”

Dr. Linda has identified eight pieces to the puzzle of life: career, money management and consumerism, education, health and well-being, interpersonal relationships, spirituality, leisure time, and fun. “Here’s What It Takes … to Be Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise” is divided into eight sections corresponding with each puzzle piece.

Dr. Linda presents her information in a concise, straightforward, bulleted format. Some of her advice in the area of money management and consumerism includes:

Identify specific financial goals (e.g., a vacation, holiday presents, college tuition, a home of your own, etc.), and what actions to take to reach those goals.
Accept that there will be “rainy days,” better known as emergencies, and that it’s important to be prepared for them (to avoid borrowing from family, friends, or taking out payday loans that most times charge exorbitant interest rates). The “rule of thumb” is that you need at least two to three months of salary saved for emergencies.
Keep saving simple. To start, use jars. Mark them or not, but put in your spare change and/or bills on a regular basis.
Full of commonsense guidance, “Here’s What It Takes … to Be Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise” offers real-life advice that is simple to follow. Also included are goal-setting worksheets for each life area that readers can complete to clearly identify and do what it takes to reach their goals.

Dr. Linda A. Smith worked in consumer affairs at the Gas Co. and ARCO for 12 years before deciding to leave the corporate sector for work in the non-profit area, promoting consumer education in communities and schools. She’s written and hosted numerous consumer education programs airing on cable television, some sponsored by the Gas Co. and others by the California Alliance for Consumer Education (CACE), where she serves as president. She also works as a career advisor and college instructor, teaching courses in life management, consumer awareness, and marriage and family life. She holds a doctorate in organizational leadership and a master’s degree in family and consumer sciences. “Here’s What It Takes … to Be Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise” is her first book.

What Smart Companies Do While the Dow Stays Below 10,000

Despite Obama’s stunning victory last night and a hopeful mood, the Dow remains in a slump and many businesses are scrambling for alternatives to the expensive world of traditional advertising.

Enter Dirty Little Secrets of Buzz, an extraordinary new book by no-holds-barred “PR guru” David Seaman about the art of attracting free international media attention — and about using paid services such as Google AdWords with laser-like precision, without wasting a single dime or click.

Featured in The New York Times, Arizona Republic, iMedia and now available on shelves nationwide at Barnes & Noble and Borders, this is a book that will fascinate your viewers and listeners.

David says traditional methods of advertising and marketing are not as successful today as more consumers turn to blogs, YouTube and MySpace for direction on what product or service is the next viral “must-have” item.

David can share the secrets to generating publicity without spending a dime, including:

Rivalries are publicity gold
Rivalries aren’t just for Donald Trump and Barry Diller anymore. If you want national media coverage for your small business or new product, you need to identify an enemy — and fast.

Stage an event or piggyback on an existing news story
Give the media an actual event to cover like Harley-Davidson’s garage parties or add to a hot topic already in the news.

Find your niche
Do one thing better than anyone else. Publicize this fact and build a lifestyle around it. Olympic athletes become famous for pursuing one ability to the point of perfection. Well-rounded products get zero media attention.

When it makes sense to pay for attention online
There are certain relatively cheap self-serve advertising networks that are worth the small investment, such as Google AdWords. It’s crucial to use these powerful services as buzz-builders, targeting your audience with laser-like precision and making use of every dime and click spent.

David has been a dynamic guest on CNN Headline News, CN8, FOX’s The Morning Show, SIRIUS Satellite Radio, E! Radio, XM, Maxim Radio, and elsewhere.

Crime, Espionage, and Conspiracy Energize New Thriller, ‘The Grandfather Clause’

Philip A. Genovese Jr., the grandson of Mafia crime boss Vito Genovese, makes a remarkable fictional debut with “The Grandfather Clause” (published by AuthorHouse - http://www.authorhouse.com), a suspenseful thriller only he could write.

Genovese’s novel has received accolades and recognition, winning the Santa Fe Trail Creative Arts Council 2008 Book Contest First Prize for Fiction and named as an Eric Hoffer Award for Independent Books 2008 semifinalist in the Suspense/Thriller category. Bill Handleman, Asbury Park Press columnist, applauded the novel as “a fast-paced thriller teeming with indelible characters.” One reviewer suggested “you get lots of sleep before starting this book.” Another declared it “a great read … loved the twists, turns and well-developed characters.” Another said it reads “like the Sopranos on steroids … think Nelson DeMille meets Brad Thor meets Mario Puzo.”

The story begins in March of 1963 in a quiet New Jersey shore community. Joseph Napolo is a young boy who cherishes his Pop Pop Carmine’s Sunday visits. Joseph has come to understand that there is something special about his grandfather - the stories he tells, his friends that visit after dinner, how they kiss his ring and call him Don Carmine.

This Sunday, however, Joseph is the sole witness to sinister and dramatic events. Young Joseph and his grandfather pledge to keep a dark secret.

Over time, Joseph learns his grandfather had been the boss of a New York crime family - one that the media continues to illuminate as the most powerful Mafia organization in the country. Joseph has shunned his grandfather’s ways, but he will forever share the family name. He understands that fame is fickle and fleeting. Infamy is not.

Now the spring of 2001, Joseph is a husband, father, and with his best friend, Michael Cogan, co-owner of a successful trucking company. However, trouble with the Teamsters Union, Cogan’s gambling debts, and a hijacking that is more than it appears to be create a scenario where the past and the present reconvene.

Seemingly unconnected events bring together several nefarious entities. Teamster officials, a high-tech defense contractor, the Napolo crime family, and an ex-U.S. intelligence operative collude and collide. Reluctantly, Joseph penetrates his grandfather’s world to protect his own family and save his friend, only to find himself a key player in a conspiracy that redefines patriotism and his grandfather’s role in history.

“I was immediately drawn into the world created by the author and the very real decisions made by all the characters. At times I had to literally put the book down and breathe because I had been holding my breath or squirming in my seat, lost in the world of this book,” one reviewer wrote. You can join others who have been “pulled in from page one (and) couldn’t put it down” and wrote that “The Grandfather Clause” is “an amazing page turner with crisp detail and dialogue. I found myself laying awake thinking of how I would end the book if I was the author. Now that I’ve finished, I genuinely miss the story. I miss the characters.”

‘Yo Mujer’: Woman Escapes from Abusive Marriage

For any woman who has ever confused abuse for love, for any woman trapped in an abusive relationship without the confidence to break free, Palmira Moncada-Wassermann offers up her new Spanish-language novel, “Yo Mujer” (published by AuthorHouse - http://www.authorhouse.com).

“Yo Mujer” is as much the inspirational story of one woman’s journey to freedom as it is a denunciation of the Latin male chauvinist. Moncada-Wassermann sets her sights on those self-important husbands, boyfriends and fathers who force Latin women to surrender their dignity by means of physical and verbal abuse.

The woman at the center of “Yo Mujer” is like so many other women who fall in love, only to watch their relationships fall apart when the men in their lives turn into monsters. This woman has four children with an abusive, unfaithful husband who has no interest in taking responsibility for his family. She struggles to accept her own worth, ultimately gaining control of her life and her family by leaving a man who did not deserve her love or devotion.

Moncada-Wassermann hopes that “Yo Mujer” will encourage Latin women to find the help necessary to escape abusive relationships and break the cycle of violence.

Portals to Freedom Explores Love Against All Odds

“A light summer breeze funneled across western Maryland and sifted through the dogwoods lining the oval entrance to the Roulette farm. The large limestone mansion was absorbed into the tranquil scene and depicted the best of times.” So the scene is set in Jack Babb’s “Portals to Freedom” (published by AuthorHouse - http://www.authorhouse.com), the entrancing new novel that takes a dramatic look at the lives of the Roulette family during what the author calls “one of the most romantic periods of history.”

Taking place just prior to the Civil War, between the 1850 Compromise and 1859, “Portals to Freedom” tells the love story of Johnny Wills and Melissa Roulette, as well as the stories of love, life and death of those around them. The cast includes Ben and Clara Roulette, Melissa’s parents; slaves Samuel and Emma and their son, Jonesy; Flossie, Jonesy’s love interest; Senator Penderson and his wife, Myra, Ben’s sister; and a variety of other characters who breathe life into this captivating saga.

Capturing the realities of life’s continuous flux, “Portals to Freedom” follows these characters as they deal with the hardships of unforeseen occurrences that disrupt the peace in all ways imaginable. Amidst colorful scenes of military balls “with uniforms and gowns twirling in the oil lamplight,” county fairs and Fourth of July celebrations are unforgiving tragedies: death, racial injustice and rape. The latter sends Melissa on a journey like none she had ever imagined. Pregnant and without Johnny, she is forced to join the Underground Railroad, a rare experience for a white woman.

Fear is rampant as Melissa and her fellow travelers attempt to evade the relentless pursuit of bounty hunters and marshals and survive the harsh winter en route to freedom. Johnny’s deep love for Melissa sends him on a desperate search to find her, a search that brings them together in an unexpected way. Discover true love’s ability to overcome all odds in Jack Babb’s “Portals to Freedom.”

Author Jack Babb studied journalism at the University of Maryland and received training as a screenwriter through several schools pertaining to film techniques using 16 and 35 MM film. After writing for several large companies, Babb began writing for television, including such programs as Bonanza, Hawaii Five-O and The Richard Boones Show.

‘The Graveyard Book’ Scents to Benefit the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund

Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab (BPAL) has released a series of 9 fragrances inspired by “The Graveyard Book,” author Neil Gaiman’s newest bestseller. Scents such as “Eau de Ghoul” and “The Macabray” are based on the characters, locations, and ideas found within the pages of the young adult fantasy novel.

Proceeds from every bottle sold go to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, a nonprofit charitable organization founded in 1986 as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of First Amendment rights for members of the comics community.

This perfume series joins Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab’s scents inspired by Neil Gaiman’s “Good Omens,” “Stardust,” “American Gods,” “Anansi Boys,” and “Snow, Glass, Apples.” To date, Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab has raised over $38,000 for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund through sales of their Neil Gaiman-related series.

The collaboration between artistic visionaries is always an exciting and thought-provoking endeavor. Rarely, if ever, though, have modern literary characters been so lovingly and accurately interpreted by a skilled perfumer. Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab’s interpretations of Gaiman’s colorful and thoroughly unique characters are, like the characters themselves, creative masterpieces and not to be missed.

Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab specializes in formulating intriguing, compelling body and household blends with a dark, romantic, and sexual tone. Their scents run the aesthetic gamut of romance era, Renaissance, Medieval and Victorian formulas, pagan and mythological blends, and horror/Gothic-themed scents. They have over two decades of experience in the field, and their joy is their work. All of their products are hand-blended in their laboratory.

A Conversation About Alzheimer’s

“When my father was formally diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in September of 2001, I read every book, pamphlet, and newspaper article I could get my hands on,” writes Michele L. Tucker in her new book, “A Conversation About Alzheimer’s” (published by AuthorHouse - http://www.authorhouse.com). “Educate, educate, educate … that’s all I could think about. I told myself that once I knew the facts, I could get the right physicians, no matter the cost, to fix him. I just wanted to fix him!”

Unfortunately, as Michele found out, there is no “fixing” Alzheimer’s. Over the next four years, she watched her father’s condition worsen as his health and personality deteriorated. “A Conversation About Alzheimer’s” is her starkly honest, unflinching account of the progression of her father’s illness and how it affected her and her family. “Of course there are handbooks for the caregiver on the bookstore shelves, autobiographies and the like,” Michele notes. “Each book, every website, offers phases of the disease, symptoms of the disease, how to relate to the patient in particular situations, but nothing exposed the real-world experience.”

Michele sets out to detail her real-world experience as she was forced to face the reality that her father’s Alzheimer’s wasn’t going to go away. She describes in heartbreaking detail the toll his disease took. She shares her emotional reaction to his diagnosis, the slow loss of his independence, and how family and friends reacted to her father’s illness.

Michele is hopeful that “A Conversation About Alzheimer’s” will educate others who may be watching a loved one turn into a stranger, that it will comfort them and remind them that they are not alone, and that it will provide strength when perhaps they feel they have no more to give. She gives advice on choosing an assisted living home and making funeral arrangements, along with detailing early warning signs of the disease.

“This passage has been an incredible one for me and my family,” Michele writes. “We’ve learned a great deal of how sophisticated the brain actually is. We’ve also learned how the brain can rip away your very existence. But mostly, we learned patience.”

About the Author: Michele L. Tucker, a native Virginian, currently resides there with her husband of 16 years and her teenage son. A 25-year career in the administrative field taught her invaluable lessons in how to react to pressure and crisis, skills she drew upon while dealing with her father’s illness. “A Conversation About Alzheimer’s” is her first book and she is currently at work on a second, a novel based on the tragic murder of a relative in Washington, D.C.

Obsession: A History

A new book from a University of Illinois at Chicago scholar examines the progression of obsessive behavior from its religious and secular origins to its present status as a medical and cultural phenomenon.

"Obsession: A History" (University of Chicago Press, 2008) by Lennard Davis, UIC professor of English, offers a narrative featuring wide-ranging perspectives on the history of compulsive behaviors.

Davis writes that we live in an age of obsession. Originally considered the result of demonic possession, obsessive behavior related to one's work or hobbies is now admired while compulsively washing one's hands or avoiding lines on the sidewalk is a dreaded condition.

He also explores a sharp rise in diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder, citing a 600-fold increase over the past 30 years, and the treatment of the disease.

"I want readers to see that psychological diseases have, at least, one long and very significant taproot in culture and society," said Davis, who is also professor of disability and human development and medical education. "Something like obsessive-compulsive disorder isn't just a purely clinical entity, but participates in a complex set of social, cultural, political, and professional issues."

Davis, who is well-known for his disability, literary, and cultural studies, was inspired to explore obsession while conducting research on the difference between literary characters from the 18th and 19th centuries.

He found that many characters from the latter era, featured in works by authors such as Poe, Dostoevsky, Zola, Balzac, and Dickens, were obsessed. Davis set out to investigate the origin of the word and when people began to talk about or label others as being obsessed.

The mid-19th century in England and France was the tipping point, according to Davis.

"Monomania was the operative term, and the more I researched this I began to see that it was a diagnosis that had a popular appeal," he said.

"It seemed to be a hallmark of modernity -- both in culture and in the rise of the professions and specialization."

Davis says it is important to remember that diseases have histories that are relevant to the way they are considered today.

"Psychological diseases can be the dark sister to the qualities that a culture upholds -- in this case, doing or thinking one thing too much can make you famous, or can put you on Prozac, and sometimes both," he said.

"We should always be careful to remember that the line between normality and pathology is a tenuous one, even when we try to make a firewall between them."

A book launch for "Obsession: A History" is scheduled Nov. 13, 5 – 7 p.m. at UIC's Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, 800 S. Halsted St.