Depression Books

Thank goodness someone thought to compile old country sayings of rural Texas! Truly a glimpse of rural Texas life, a historic, gem of a book. It reminded me of the memorable times I listened with great attention to my grandfather's colorful stories which amused me and appalled my parents. I'm so glad that we won't lose these timeless sayings forever as generations die. Just wish that I'd thought of writing this delightful book.

This book is simply wonderful. The sayings can be appreciated and enjoyed by anyone, but especially by those originating from the South, as the sayings come from rural Texas. You won't be disappointed!

This book is an excellent summary of the essential ideas and findings related to cognitive theory of depression. For those interested in depression and related latest researches, you should not miss it ! From Max Wong. Hong Kong.

Beck's cognitive model of depression has been a seminal contribution to the field of psychopathology. This book, Scientific Foundations of Cognitive Theory and Therapy of Depression, is the first comprehensive review of the research that pertains to the various aspects of this theory and its application as a therapeutic approach. Every serious student of psychopathology and therapy will want to read this book. It is well-organized, informative, clearly written, and balanced in its coverage. One comes away with the awareness that the cognitive model of depression and treatment has substantial support in empirical research. This will prove to be a classic.

In a former incarnation, I lived together with a now-ex wife in a beautiful apartment that had been the home of my ex-wife's grandparents. I loved this place, because the decor, the coral base-lit floor lamps, the art deco radio, the wallpaper was 1940's and '50's vintage and some pieces quite possibly dated from a decade or two before. This is the America that the grown Weldon Kees inhabited, and the smells, the arabesques on the carpeting, the tinny sounds of the radio are all replicated to perfection in these stories. In fact, reading these stories reminds me of climbing the back steps to that great apartment I once lived in and creaking open the door. All the things this tragic suicide knew are there: the Lucky Strike commercials, the tough guys saying See? See? over and over as they jabbed each other in the chest in the black and white movies Kees loved to watch. The short stories Kees writes are full of the telling details of a different, brasher, bolder, certain of itself America, but an America that could still drive sensitive people to despair. Some of these stories have the understated power of Kees' poems: "The Ceremony" with its nightmarish "petrified Indians" and a strange predicament right out of Kafka; the brother/pimp of "I Should Worry" who sits downstairs in his parts store while his deaf and dumb sister services a man upstairs in the same room in which their parents gassed themselves years before; an older spinster sister outraged by the sound of a couple next door having sex and struggling with the younger sister in a thwarted attempt to knock on the wall. There are memorable characters here aplenty and a clarity of language and vision that can be found in the best of Kees' poems. However, though I am mighty glad that Kees wrote these stories, I am even gladder that he abruptly stopped to write the often darkly exquisite poems, for Kees was obviously not a first-rate talent in his prose, mainly because he allows his lack of sympathy for some characters to portray them as one-dimensional cartoons. (Perhaps he lacked the "Negative Capability" that allows a great writer to love even the bad guys he or she creates.) Women, for instance, often appear in a totally unsympathetic,one-dimensional light. Indeed, in many of these stories women assume all the complexity of an "Our Miss Brooks" episode, stepping forth as carping harridans and frustrated, fire-spitting viragoes. Gays too are a problematic subject for Kees. "A Trip to the Mountains" and "The Life of the Mind" present homosexuality in a stereotypical way. However, given these obvious flaws, this selection of stories introduces readers to yet more glittering facets of a dark gem of a writer who left us all too soon.

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No one knows how, or when, or even whether, Weldon Kees died. Having talked both of fleeing to Mexico and of suicide off the Golden Gate Bridge, his car was found near the latter on July 18, 1955. No hint of the man has since emerged.

But while he was active, Kees wrote fiction (initially), poetry, and cultural criticism of all kinds for major national periodicals; he painted (abstract expressionism), was a jazz musician, made films, and collaborated with anthropologists and behavioural scientists on various ventures. From his time of relocation to New York until his disappearance, he circled with many of the avant garde leaders in the New York art scene. Brief as his life was, it represents one of the most multi-faceted talents of his, or any, age.

Born in the plains (Beatrice, Nebraska, 1914) to parents operating a hardware store, Kees had several short stories published while in his twenties, but quit writing them altogether by the early forties when he moved east. They (43 in all) thus confine almost exlusively to glum-faced real-life depictions of common folks in depressed, small, mid American towns. Dana Goia has selected about a third of these, those deemed most successful, and includes an informative introduction. Kees, in this work, reflects clearly the social-conditions focus of the thirties throughout the US and presents his small gems in down-keyed, often unresolved, personal reflections and observations on everyday hum-drum existence by a generally undistinguished, often quietly frustrated narrator-protagonist. Generally these are finely edited, simple-language depictions of unfulfilled yearning and coping with material boredom and insignificance.

Stylistically, most are relatively brief and trenchant in their resolute resistance to unfounded optimism. But they are poignant within the simple, disciplined writing, and the reader is pulled gently and feelingly into the glum world of the however hapless, however compromised narrator. All presented in a gray climate unaccommodating of patriotic, religious, or familial panegyric.

Kees is a unique, if minor figure in American 20th century literature, and the thoughtful reader will be rewarded by giving him some time, likely reminded - nostalgically perhaps in the half-tone depression hues Kees uses - of the unadorned nature of the lives most of us lead.

In "Silent Witnesses," Jacqueline Ellis shows the flip-side of the Depression. Working class lives, all too often been depicted in sentimental blacks and whites, are here given a full range of expression. Rage, resentment, and even revolution become part of the equation. Through clear and often entertaining language, Ellis shows how these "negative" impulses were purposefully squelched in official government representations of working class women. To suppress the threat, the government denied its existance. I don't think I'll ever be able to look at Dorothea Lange's "Migrant Mother" the same again. This is the best kind of book -- one that makes you see the world differently after you read it.

In "Silent Witnesses," Jacqueline Ellis shows the flip-side of the Depression. Working class lives, all too often been depicted in sentimental blacks and whites, are here given a full range of expression. Rage, resentment, and even revolution become part of the equation. Through clear and often entertaining language, Ellis shows how these "negative" impulses were purposefully squelched in official government representations of working class women. To suppress the threat, the government denied its existance. I don't think I'll ever be able to look at Dorothea Lange's "Migrant Mother" the same again. This is the best kind of book -- one that makes you see the world differently after you read it.

This is a great book for understanding the causes and effects of the 1929 Stock Market Crash. This book not only answered all my questions about the crash, but it supplied me with a detailed account of the events that led up to the market crash and the aftermath that followed. It illustrates how greed, fear, ignorance, and deceit fueled the market crash. In addition, it dispels the myth that the 1929 Stock Market Crash caused the Great Depression. Because these same elements continue to influence the market today, it would be to one's advantage to learn about the crash before investing in the market. This book is for ages 12 and above.

This was a great book that I loved reading. I am into history and this book gave lots of details about the stock market crash that made it easy to understand. I think lots of kids will like this book if they give it a chance.

This was a very sweet story about a boy who had to leave home during the depression to live with an uncle. He returned home briefly to retrieve his dog (best friend), Spike, and they encountered many adventures on their trip together to Uncle Dan's house. I thoroughly enjoyed this book -- read it over the weekend. There is a sequel entitled "Bill Creelman's Conflicts" which I have already started, and it, too, is fast moving, historically interesting, a great story, and fun to read. I would highly recommend both of these books, and I'm sure you will enjoy them as much as I have.

A wonderful tale of a boy and his dog told from the point of view of the dog (Spike). A history lesson and gripping drama rolled into one. I highly recommend!

Love the stories and recipes in this book. I love reading about stuff like this, and the recipes are as frugal and practical today as then.

I enjoyed this very much...I have the previous 4 volumes and read them frequently to get recipes and enjoy the stories of a difficult time in our history that I know only from stories like these or from my late relatives. Gives a different historical perspective on a difficult era..one that shows the resilency of the common people faced with an almost impossible task of surviving a financial melt-down.

The phrase "Great Depression" is meant to refer to the decline in the economic fortunes of the world in the 1930's, but it can also be used to refer to the mental state of much of the population. With one-fourth of the people unemployed and the majority of the rest working for lowered wages, people did not look forward to the future. Early in the depression, the administration of American President Herbert Hoover took a hands-off approach, believing that the government had no role in actively working to correct the economic failings. It took the activist administration of Franklin Roosevelt to introduce programs that had some effect in getting the American economy up and running again.
No book of 31 pages could completely capture the significance of the depression, yet Stein succeeds to the extent it is possible. Most aspects of the times, such as soup kitchens, bank closings and the migration of farmers driven from their farms are mentioned. It was a difficult time, best summed up by the passage about young people eating biscuits heavily coated with mustard because that was the only thing they had.

The decade of 1930-1940 was aptly named The Great Depression. Part of it was cause, part effect, but all combined it was the most devastating financial decade of our history. Perhaps the abrupt change from the prosperity and hilarity of the Roaring Twenties caused the difference to seem even greater.

Although not everyone was affected, middle class America was stunned. Folks who had just purchased nice homes and had good jobs suddenly found themselves without either, living with friends or relatives and relying on handouts. This was a truly stressful time. Unemployment approached 25% and even those who were working took less pay and literally had to stand in line for jobs. Soup lines and kitchens were a common sight in large cities.

The stock market had just collapsed and businesses went under, people lost their life savings and some committed suicide, so great were their losses. People later remembered having only mustard in the house to eat. Others ate at the dumps. Others in relief food lines. Even though a loaf of bread was only a nickel, one could expect another hungry person to steal the bread right out of their arms. One dollar a month was too much for some people to pay for electricity and their homes went dark.

On top of the dismal economic picture, the weather and nature dealt an equally nasty hand. Drought, pests and dust destroyed what little crops farmers had been able to plant. This phenomena stretched from Texas up to North Dakota. The Dust Bowl claimed even more families. Thousands of farmers were forced to leave property, family and all they knew and head to California in hopes of finding farm work. Perhaps because I WAS ONE OF THOSE SMALL CHILDREN this particular era and book was especially poignant to me. John Steinbeck captured it in book form in "Grapes of Wrath".

Hoover was president, and he believed that the government should stay out of the private sector. However, with the election of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the federal government DID step in to provide some sense of dignity to its' population. The New Deal and the Civilian Conservation Corps started men planting trees, laying roads, cleaning up woods and beaches and America had some jobs. Finally, the WPA (Works Progress Administration) provided 2 million more jobs in construction and even the arts were revived. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVV) provided dams and power plants to areas impoverished by the droughts.

Roosevelt believed folks needed companionship, so he started his famous "Fireside Chats" in which he became the first president to use radio to bring information and comfort to the American public. His wife Eleanor became the first publicly active president's wife, visiting schools and paying particular attention to the needs of Black children.

Just when it looked like the Great Depression was ending, and the song "Happy Days are Here Again", another downswing occurred. Workers started demanding better pay, owners balked and sit down strikes threatened to paralyze America. Memorial Day, 1937 was labeled as the Memorial Day Massacre when strikes turned to bloodshed at a steel plant and ten strikers died and ninety others were seriously injured.

In the midst of the chaos, a few "saviors" began to appear. Huey Long became a famous politician, promising to "put a chicken in every pot" by a plan to tax the rich and provide a $5,000 home and guaranteed annual income for all Americans. However, at his height of popularity, he was killed by an assassin. Dr. Francis Townsend devised a scheme to help the elderly with a monthly pension. Perhaps the most popular politician was a Catholic priest, Charles E. Coughlin, who used radio to reach America, and eventually started blaming international bankers and week by week became more and more anti-Jewish.

Folks turned to simple pleasures and past times to entertain themselves and their families...using inexpensive table games like checkers -- and Monopoly was born. Listening to the radio continued to gain in popularity. A special treat was listening to favorite singers, comedy acts and programs which allowed phoning in votes...this gave a shaky audience a sense of value and worth. Movies which provided temporary escape could be visited for only ten to twenty-five cents. "Gone With the Wind" and "Wizard of Oz" became famous and remain so to this day.

Since the Great Depression turned out to be world-wide, the political climate was ripe for dictators and totalitarian governments. Hence, the dark clouds of war arose. Hitler invaded Poland in 1939, and America began preparing for war.

Ironically, the very thing that provided jobs for millions....war.....also handed America the bloodiest combat in their young history. World War II was just over the horizon and America was set to learn a new set of restrictions and say good-bye to their sons and fathers as they faced a second world war.

R. Conrad Stein does a tremendous job of bringing 10 years of history to America's school children or adult literacy students. He also provides a good, quick and accurate brush up course for those of us who might have forgotten.

What a gorgeous book this is; well written, with realistic characters and fabulous wit and humour...it's hard to believe this book is so hard to get hold of thesedays, especially when lesser books are so freely available. Publishers, eh? Go figure...

Although set in the days of Prohibition and the Great Depression, when no one had much money, and jobs were very hard to come by (very dark days indeed!) this is nonetheless one of the most joyful and uplifting tales I've ever read, a true case of finding a silver lining even on the darkest of clouds. Quinn is a truly inspiring heroine, and her family and friends are amazing. In spite of the adverse conditions they face in their lives, they all make the best of it, and find their own fun...their sense of humour is never diminished. There's good people and bad in Quinn's neighbourhood, but they love and care for each other, and when someone is in trouble, everyone else helps out. I only wish society was still this neighbourly today! Todays kids and teens really should read this, so they will know just what life was like back in grandma and prandpa's day.

I doubt my review does justice to the utter fabulousness of this book, or the complexities and nuances of its characters, or the utter realism of it's setting, but trust me...if you can find a copy of this book, buy it, you won't regret it! It will open a window to a time long ago, a poignant phase in American history that should never be forgotten, and thanks to this book, hopefully never will be.

In her inimitable style, Jean Thesman pens a book about the trials of life as a teenage girl during Prohibition. She captures the feeling of the era so wondrously that you feel as if you are 15-year old Quinn. Her father, Beau John, is endeared by the whole neighborhood for his easygoing and generous personality. Once a bookkeeper, he is forced to work long hours as a dock laborer in another city, and come home only on weekends. As Quinn learns of the suspicious circumstances surrounding his failure to come home from work one weekend, she learns that nobody's perfect, and that the fine line between good and evil can blur around the edges. In this sterling example of an adolescent's initiation into adulthood, you see that even the most deceptively simple ideas are full of complexities, and that we must be brave enough to face them.

I was honored to review this book for a couple of daily newspapers -- and I found myself totally immersed while reading the author's courageous journey through her depression. Her beautifully rendered stories, laced with sound advice and documentation, are an inspiration to any person who is battling serious depression or even garden-variety "blues." This is an uplifting book -- sometimes humorous -- and it reveals the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel for sufferers and their families. I recommend it highly.

The author of this excellent, upbeat book "had a depression," as she so aptly terms it, rather than "was depressed." "Having something," means you can discard it, she posits. "Being something" is more difficult to shed. And conquer it, she did. At the urging of her doctor, who knew she was a writer, she has compiled the text she could not find herself - an action plan for others who have "a depression," and for their loved ones and champions who must understand the illness in order to help. This easy-to-read book is filled with survival tips and should be read by anyone who suffers from depression. As she states, the author is passing along the "fighting tools" she acquired in her own personal journey. A must-read book - to be re-read many times.