Nerve

April 4, 2011
Why, in a world where we have created secure buffers against our worst fears, are so many of us so anxious? And why do some people exhibit nerves of steel under stressful and fearful conditions while others wilt? Clark (Starbucked) explores these questions by briefly examining the neuroscience of fear, and then collecting numerous stories of individuals who have remained calm against all odds in fearful life-and-death situations. For example, in 1991, principal Daniel Stockwell faced down a rifle barrel as he negotiated with a high school student holding him hostage. Although he was later praised for his calm, Stockwell admitted that he worked with his fear, rather than banishing it, in order to face the situation. Clark draws out of these tales a dozen quick tips for retaining your nerve in the face of stress, such as learning to accept uncertainty, breathing, and opening up to fear unconditionally. Unfortunately his meandering and simplistic approach offers neither new insights into the nature of anxiety nor any new perspectives on handling it.

January 1, 2011

Clark (Starbucked: A Double Tall Tale of Caffeine, Commerce and Culture, 2007) examines how people react under pressure.

The author sets the stage with a nail-biting account of a potentially cataclysmic event during the Cuban Missile Crisis, when a highly stressed Soviet submarine commander almost made the fatal mistake of shooting off a nuclear-armed torpedo. Even though he was afflicted with debilitating anxiety attacks, the author was still surprised to learn that anxiety disorders now top the list of mental disorders in the United States, exceeding depression. While anti-anxiety medications help ameliorate symptoms, Clark wanted to get to the root of the problem. His search for answers as to why many of us "fret about things that are, for lack of a better word, bullshit," yet others—including police officers, pilots and trauma surgeons—manage to successfully circumvent the brain's flight-fight-or-freeze response to perceived threats takes him on a fascinating quest for understanding. He first looks at neurological studies of the brain, which provide insight into how it can be trained to distinguish between real and apparent threats and deal with crisis situations by repeatedly evoking fear and working through it. Clark interviews a wide variety of people, including athletes who inexplicably choke in tight situations and others who appear at the top of their game when the pressure is most intense. The author also discusses World War II, when Londoners calmly weathered nightly German bombing raids—after a while they became predictable and therefore less frightening—while soldiers crumbled under sporadic artillery fire. During the writing of this book, Clark learned to face his own fears and function effectively. He recognized that feeling fear and keeping cool in stressful situations are not incompatible but often complementary.

A compassionate psychological page-turner.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

March 1, 2011

Journalist Clark (Starbucked) proclaims in the first chapter that he is "not at all qualified to tell anyone how to expertly manage their fears." Nevertheless, with an engaging, highly readable style, he displays his excellent journalism skills by interviewing and telling the stories of numerous individuals, exploring how they react to fear, stress, and extreme pressure. He compares the way those who seem immune to stress and fear approach difficult situations with that of the larger general population, who tend to respond instinctively in ways that actually increase negative emotions. Those most successful at handling stress experience the same feelings as everyone else yet are able to notice the feelings, accept them as normal without becoming paralyzed, and focus on what has to be done. He concludes by summarizing helpful principles readers can apply to the stress and fear in their lives. VERDICT This will be of interest to libraries with popular psychology collections and for readers looking to tame their emotions.--Crystal Renfro, Georgia Inst. of Technology Lib., Atlanta

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2011
Clark, author of Starbucked (2007), maintains his light, frequently humorous tone in this (mostly) serious look at the psychology of stress. Drawing on various forms of research, and numerous real-life stories, the author explores the reasons why we feel stress, our responses to it, and what we can do to deal with it constructively. Clark takes us through the history of stress research, from early breakthroughs (Walter Cannons 1915 elucidation of the fight-or-flight response) to experimental research (most of what we know about the science of fear comes from tormenting rats, Clark wryly observes) to todays cutting-edge explorations of the workings of the human brain. The subjects of his real-life stories of dealing with stress under intense pressure range from Russian sub commanders to game-show contestants to tsunami survivors to pro athletes to musicians. The author makes some shrewd observations (for example, that Cannons fight-or-flight response leaves out a third F: freeze), and, unlike many authors of popular-science books, he really knows how to write, too: the book is informative, engaging, and, in quite a few places, funny.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)