Going Sane Maps of Happiness Author:Adam Phillips If sanity is the opposite of insanity, then to be sane isn't much of a state to inhabit. Historically, sanity has been defined - by default - as the absence of madness. And yet madness is always present in our lives - in the chaos of our experience as babies, the rebellion of our adolescence, the irrational nature of our sexual appetites. Sanity... more » on the other hand, confounds us. It has none of the allure of madness, it is more glamorous in relation. Clearly we need a new definition of sanity if we are to lead rich, modern lives as "sane" beings. Fortunately, help is at hand.
To be fully realized - Adam Phillips shows us in his groundbreaking, profound, and witty book - we need to mix up things a bit. If to be sane is to be inert and to be insane out of control, what balance of sanity and insanity can we find to allow us to make our best way through the world? In "Going Sane", Adam Phillips finds a way forward that is uplifting, hopeful, and realistic. He strips our lives back to essentials, focusing on how we - as human beings, as parents, as lovers - can make a space for a well balanced attitude to life.« less