具体描述
This exceptionally readable and down-to-earth handbook is destined to become the definitive guide to psychobiological research, the application of psychological theory and research to individual lives of historical importance. It brings together for the first time the world's leading psychobiographers, writing lucidly on many of the major figures of our age - from Osama Bin Laden to Elvis Presley. The first section of the book addresses the subject of how to construct an effective psychobiography. Editor William Todd Schultz introduces the field, provides valuable definitions of good and bad psychobiography, discusses an optimal structure for psychobiographical essays, and offers a blueprint for striking psychological paydirt in biographical data. Dan McAdams explores the question of what psychobiographers might learn from current research in personality psychology. Alan Elms delivers wise advice on the tricky subject of theory choice in psychobiography. William Runyan asks why Van Gogh cut off his ear, and in the process explains how one evaluates competing interpretations of the same event in a subject's life. And Kate Isaacson describes a template for use in multiple-case psychobiography. Never before has method in psychobiography been so clearly and explicitly addressed. Those just getting started in the field will find in Section One a detailed roadmap for success. The remaining sections of the book are composed of richly engaging case studies of famous artists, psychologists and politicians. They address compelling questions such as: What are the subjective origins of photographer Diane Arbus's obsession with freaks? In what ways did the early loss of Sylvia Plath's father affect her poetry and presage her suicide? Why did Elvis experience such difficulty singing the song "Are You Lonesome Tonight"? What accounts for Bin Laden' radicalism, Kim Jong II's paranoia, George W Bush's conflict with identity? Why did Freud go disasterously astray in his analysis of Leonardo? What made psychologist Gordon Allport's meeting with Freud so pungently significant? How did the loss of his father determine major elements of Nietzsche's philosophy? These questions and many more get answered, often in surprising and incisive fashion. Additional chapters take up the lives of Harvard operationist S.S. Stevens, Erik Erikson, Edith Wharton, Saddam Hussein, Truman Capote, Kathryn Harrison, Jack Kerouac, and others. Within each case study, tips are proffered along the way as to how psychobiography can be done more cogently, more intelligently, and more valuably. With its combination of telling about and showing how to practice psychobiography wisely, its inclusion of most of the field's leading practitioners, and its diversity of subjects, the Handbook of Psychobiography represents the best the field has to offer. It will define the discipline, set a course for effective future developments, and quickly emerge as a must-read for any beginning or serious psychobiographer, narrative psychologist, personologist or personality researcher.
作者简介
目录信息
读后感
用户评价
初读其章节目录，立刻被其宏大而严谨的结构所吸引。内容组织上，似乎遵循了一种从宏观理论到微观案例剖析的逻辑脉络，层次分明，逻辑链条清晰可见。那些标题本身就充满了学术的张力和思辨性，预示着作者在梳理和整合相关领域知识时，进行了大量的批判性思考和深入的文献梳理。我注意到其中似乎穿插了大量的历史背景介绍，这对于理解任何复杂的人类行为研究都是不可或缺的基石。可以预见，本书在界定时下的诸多概念时，不会采取简单粗暴的定义，而是会呈现出一种多维度的、动态的视角，这对于提升读者的理论敏感度非常有益。它显然不是面向初学者的入门手册，更像是一部为专业人士提供的、用来挑战现有认知框架的智力工具。
总体而言，这本书散发着一种经得起时间考验的厚重感。它不仅是一本知识的汇编，更像是一场思想的邀约，邀请读者进入一个深邃而广阔的思辨场域。我推测，即便是那些对相关领域持保留意见的读者，也会对其展现出的严密论证和深广视野表示赞叹。它需要的不是快速翻阅，而是需要读者带着笔和笔记本，细细揣摩其中的每一个论据和论证过程。阅读完毕后，我深信这本书将在未来很长一段时间内，成为我案头必备的参考资料之一，它所提供的视角和分析工具，其价值远远超出了书本本身的重量，它提供的是一种思考问题的新范式，这种收获是无价的。
这本书的装帧设计着实让人眼前一亮，硬壳封面泛着低调的哑光质感，触感温润，色彩搭配上偏向于沉稳的大地色系，既不失学术的庄重感，又带有一丝人文的温度。字体选择上，内页的排版极为考究，行距和字距的拿捏恰到好处，即便是需要长时间阅读复杂的理论阐述时，眼睛的疲劳感也能得到很好的缓解。装订工艺看起来非常扎实，即便是频繁翻阅，也能保证书页的平整不松垮，这对于一本工具书或者深度参考资料来说，是至关重要的品质体现。尤其是侧边切口的处理，打磨得光滑细腻，展现了出版方在细节上对读者的尊重。整体而言，从拿到书的那一刻起，它就给人一种“值得珍藏”的印象，这种视觉和触觉上的愉悦感，无疑为接下来的深度阅读打下了良好的心理基础。它不是那种快餐式的读物，而是散发出一种需要时间去品味的沉淀感。
阅读体验中，最令我感到惊喜的是作者在语言风格上展现出的那种独特的叙事节奏。它并非是那种板着面孔的纯粹学术白话，而是巧妙地融入了一种近乎文学性的描述能力，使得原本可能枯燥的理论探讨变得引人入胜。这种文笔的张力在于，它既能精准地传达复杂的专业术语和实验结果，又能在关键的转折点上，用一两句精辟的总结性话语，将读者的思绪拉回到核心的哲学命题上。这种平衡处理的难度极高，稍有不慎就会偏向于过于晦涩或过于口语化，但这本书似乎找到了一个完美的支点。我仿佛能感受到作者在字里行间流露出的那种深厚学养和对所探讨主题近乎痴迷的热情，这使得阅读过程成为了一种智力上的享受，而非负担。
深入研读其中的某些核心论点时，我不得不停下来进行反思和交叉验证。本书似乎在挑战一些长期被学界奉为圭臬的传统假设，它没有选择墨守成规，而是以一种近乎颠覆性的姿态，提出了新的解释框架。这种批判精神是极其宝贵的，它推动了领域内的进步。尤其是在处理那些涉及多学科交叉地带的议题时，作者表现出了极高的融会贯通的能力，能够将看似不相关的理论碎片有效地缝合在一起，构建出一个更具解释力的整体图景。这种整合性的思维方式，对于任何希望突破学科壁垒的研究者而言，都是一份极其有价值的启示录。它迫使我跳出自己固有的思维定势，去重新审视那些习以为常的“事实”。
