More about Elizabeth Bisland

I wanted to include a post on Elizabeth Bisland, since we’ll be discussing Eighty Days by Matthew Goodman this week.  Finding information about her is a bit trickier than when I looked up Nellie Bly.  My usual reference sources, if they had anything, didn’t have much more than what Goodman covers in his book.    In fact, some of the search results listed Goodman’s book as a source.

Wikipedia does have an article about her, which interestingly says that her 1929 New York Times obituary didn’t even mention her race around the world (perhaps because most of her writings were of a more literary nature).   In fact, her obituary was quite short, reading, “Mrs. Elizabeth Bisland Wetmore, the author, died at Green Way Rise, near Charlottesville, Va., on Sunday of pneumonia after a brief illness. Funeral services will be held in New York tomorrow. Burial will be in Woodlawn Cemetery.”

I also found her mentioned in a book (courtesy of Google Books), Library of Southern Literature: Biography, which has several pages devoted to her (and her family).

More about Nellie Bly

Since we’re discussing Eighty Days by Matthew Goodman on Wednesday, I thought I’d provide a bit more that I found on both Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland.    

Biography.com has an article about Nellie Bly, which includes more information about the article she wrote for The World about the conditions at Bellevue Hospital (which is mentioned briefly in Eighty Days):    “Led by New York Assistant District Attorney Vernon M. Davis, with Bly assisting, the Bellevue investigation resulted in a number of changes in New York City’s Department of Public Charities and Corrections (later split into separate agencies, the Department of Correction and the Department of Public Charities, which oversees the city’s hospitals); these changes (per the recommendations of jury members in 1888) included a larger appropriation of funds for the care of mentally ill patients, additional physician appointments for stronger supervision of nurses and other health-care workers, and regulations to prevent overcrowding and fire hazards at the city’s medical facilities.”

You may read the book, Ten Days in a Mad-House by Nellie Bly, as a digital copy, HERE – courtesy of Penn Libraries (and it has the original illustrations, as well!)

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The article in the book, Encyclopedia of World Biography, offers, this, as well:  “Upon her death from pneumonia on January 27, 1922, in New York, few people remarked on her passing. Only the Evening Journal published a piece on her significance, calling her the country’s best reporter. Despite her relative obscurity at the end of her life, Bly’s impact was a lasting one. Her unique and energetic approach to reporting launched new trends in journalism, and her insistence on covering difficult topics—despite her gender—set a precedent for journalistic careers for women.”

Summer Read begins on June 1st!!!

Adult Summer Read officially begins June 1st with our Kick-off Party – Everyone is welcome!  Sign up online via the library website (and you can sign up at 7:00 am on June 1st), or come in to register for the Adult program. Logging three books/audiobooks entitles you to a beautiful, monogrammed flowerpot mug, AND each book/audiobook you log also counts as a virtual ticket to win one of our grand prizes at the end of the program.  We’ll also have a special drawing halfway through Summer Read for two lucky winners to win a “One Day Family Admission” to the Naper Settlement.
Prize baskets include: local gift certificates, books, audiobooks, DVDs, and more! n” ticket to the Naper Settlement.

Everyone is welcome to attend the Adult/Teen Summer Read Wrap-up Party on Monday, July 29th. Complete details will be in the July/August newsletter, but be assured, we’ll have plenty of food and fun, a special door prize, and will announce all Summer Read winners!!!

 

Our recent discussion of A First-Rate Madness

Our group met last night to discuss A First Rate Madness by Nassir Ghaemi.   We had a great discussion, so I’ll try to list some of what was said:

• One person said that the book made him think of the Mythbusters designations of “Plausible,” “Confirmed,” and “Busted.”   After reading this book, he felt that some of the points the author makes were pretty plausible, even though they weren’t completely confirmed.   He said that with so many varying factors, the theories would be difficult to prove.
• Another person agreed, saying that since psychology is a relatively young, and “soft,” science, that it’s difficult to prove something.   She said that because the author has to extrapolate from letters and witnesses, that although it’s not 100% confirmed, it makes for some fascinating reading.
• We talked generally about the author’s writing style, and how the different sections of the book were broken down.  One reader stated that she really liked the setup, and how there was just enough history … but not so much that it made the book boring.
• Many readers found that they learned a variety of information about historical figures, especially those that we all think of as being well-known.   Getting some of these little facts was fascinating for all of us.
• One person mentioned that she questions how many political leaders have been, and are, depressed.  As she said, even if you aren’t depressed when you’re running for office, if you get the job, the job, itself, and the political arena, would depress anyone.   Other readers agreed with this point, and in particular, cited the example of Lincoln, who, even if he hadn’t had episodes of depression, certainly faced enough issues in his presidency to bring on depression.
• The author’s take on General Sherman was something that some readers found very interesting, and unexpected.  The idea of Sherman being empathetic didn’t occur to readers, but after the author explains his take on it, we agreed that it certainly seemed plausible.    The author’s theories on John F. Kennedy were also mentioned as being very interesting, especially as some readers had no idea that Kennedy had been so physically ill for so long.   The author’s chapter on Martin Luther King, Jr. and nonviolence was another topic that we talked a bit about.
• One reader stated that he thinks it’s interesting that the dynamic leaders in crisis tend to admit their mistakes, backtrack, and try a new approach, while lesser leaders never seem to admit to any mistakes at all.  The example of Nixon was one that was raised here, although other names were mentioned.
• The one big question that was raised was: where are the women in this book?  Some people wondered if the author focused on leaders that he could access information on, but we agreed that there are a number of women that he could have profiled.  One person pointed out that certainly, throughout history, there have been female leaders who may have suffered from some of the same kinds of depression, etc. as the men the author chose to profile here. Our list of potential candidates was:  Golda Meir, Benazir Bhutto, Margaret Thatcher, Queen Victoria, and Eva Peron.   We also wondered about Mary Todd Lincoln and Eleanor Roosevelt, two women who were married to presidents profiled in this book, and whose relationship with their husbands and their presidencies could be quite interesting to explore.

All in all, the group enjoyed this book and felt it was a very interesting, and worthwhile read.   If you have read this book and would like to leave a comment, and continue the discussion, please do!

Author Nassir Ghaemi

Since our May book is A First-Rate Madness, I thought I’d provide a little information about the author (taken from his website):

“Nassir Ghaemi MD MPH is an academic psychiatrist specializing in mood illnesses, especially bipolar disorder. He is Professor of Psychiatry and Pharm

acology at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, where he directs the Mood Disorders Program. He is a also a Clinical Lecturer at Harvard Medical School, and teaches at the Cambridge Health Alliance.  …

He is an active writer, and besides his books, he maintains two active blogs, and contributes posts or articles to other sites and magazines.”

I also found an interesting video on The Colbert Nation, where Stephen Colbert speaks with Nassir Ghaemi.  Very worth checking out!

Our May selection: A First-Rate Madness by Nassir Ghaemi

An investigation into the surprisingly deep correlation between mental illness and successful leadership, as seen through some of history’s greatest politicians, generals, and businesspeople.

In A First-Rate Madness, Nassir Ghaemi, who runs the Mood Disorders Program at Tufts University Medical Center, draws from the careers and personal plights of such notable leaders as Lincoln, Churchill, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., JFK, and others from the past two centuries to build an argument at once controversial and compelling: the very qualities that mark those with mood disorders- realism, empathy, resilience, and creativity-also make for the best leaders in times of crisis. By combining astute analysis of the historical evidence with the latest psychiatric research, Ghaemi demonstrates how these qualities have produced brilliant leadership under the toughest circumstances.

Take realism, for instance: study after study has shown that those suffering depression are better than “normal” people at assessing current threats and predicting future outcomes. Looking at Lincoln and Churchill among others, Ghaemi shows how depressive realism helped these men tackle challenges both personal and national. Or consider creativity, a quality psychiatrists have studied extensively in relation to bipolar disorder. A First-Rate Madness shows how mania inspired General Sherman and Ted Turner to design and execute their most creative-and successful-strategies.

Ghaemi’s thesis is both robust and expansive; he even explains why eminently sane men like Neville Chamberlain and George W. Bush made such poor leaders. Though sane people are better shepherds in good times, sanity can be a severe liability in moments of crisis. A lifetime without the cyclical torment of mood disorders, Ghaemi explains, can leave one ill equipped to endure dire straits. He also clarifies which kinds of insanity-like psychosis-make for despotism and ineptitude, sometimes on a grand scale.

Ghaemi’s bold, authoritative analysis offers powerful new tools for determining who should lead us. But perhaps most profoundly, he encourages us to rethink our view of mental illness as a purely negative phenomenon. As A First-Rate Madness makes clear, the most common types of insanity can confer vital benefits on individuals and society at large-however high the price for those who endure these illnesses.  (summary courtesy of Goodreads)

 

We’ll be meeting on Wednesday, May 22nd at 7:00 pm to discuss this book.   If you need a copy of the book, please ask at the Reference Desk.

Our recent discussion of Moby Duck —

The group met this evening to discuss Donovan Hohn’s book, Moby Duck: The True Story of 28,800 bath toys lost at sea and of the beachcombers, oceanographers, environmentalists, and fools, including the author, who went in search of them.    Here are some of the comments from readers:

Interestingly, everyone seemed to have some of the same reactions to the book.  Unfortunately, it seemed one of the reactions that people had was one of dismay.

• Comments were made that the book was full of interesting information, but that the author digressed so often that the overall feel was disjointed.  As one person said, it felt like the book was a place for the author to hang together a lot of things that he was interested in writing about.  He felt that at times, he felt like he had missed a transition, and would go back and re-read the previous paragraph —- only to then discover that there was no transition, after all.
• Readers did say that they enjoyed learning about some of the things in the book, like the floating garbage patches, and the blind oceanographer that the author met.
• On another positive note, readers did mention that they appreciated that the author didn’t push an agenda in this book.  While he didn’t provide solutions, he also wasn’t evangelizing.
• Readers understood that the author was, according to his own comments in an interview in The New Yorker, “…an essayist first, a journalist second.”   And, as one reader added, “a writer third …. or maybe tenth.”  One person commented that instead of this book, the author may have been better off writing a book of essays, instead of trying to link so many things together in this book.
• More than one reader expressed a feeling that this was not the book they had thought it was going to be.  One person said that this was an example of “there is no truth in advertising.”    The author’s writing style, in particular, was something more than one person commented on.  One reader said she didn’t like how the author would frequently describe his fellow travelers in unkind ways.  Another said that she couldn’t always understand the snarky tone the author had in several parts of the book.

Overall, readers felt this was a somewhat disappointing book.  As one person said, “It was way too much work to dig out the good nuggets.”

More comments are always welcome, so if you have read the book and would like to add your thoughts, please do!