Exuberance

Starred review from September 27, 2004
If exuberance is "the passion for life," then Jamison's enthusiasm and sense of wonder about the subject proves as fine an example as any examined in her newest work. Expert in the arena of mood and temperament, Jamison (An Unquiet Mind
; Night Falls Fast
; Touched with Fire
) detours from her usual analysis of mood disorders in favor of the livelier side of personality. She examines the contagious nature of exuberance, which she defines as "a psychological state characterized by high mood and high energy," offering diverse examples that range from John Muir and FDR to Mary Poppins and Peter Pan. Having in mind the simply put idea that "those who are exuberant act," the author details the energetic efforts of scientists, naturalists, politicians and even her meteorologist father. The dual nature of humanity is a common theme, as Jamison distinguishes between introversion and extroversion, nature and nurture, and healthy emotion and pathology. Such analysis is at times thorough to the point of redundancy, and even the most interested reader may find parts of the book exhausting to navigate. But Jamison makes up for it with her contagious enthusiasm for the subject—a mood that will make readers feel, well, exuberant. Perhaps Snoopy explains it best when, as exemplified in a comic strip here, he leaps for joy, waxing philosophically: "To those of us with real understanding, dancing is the only pure art form.... To live is to dance, to dance is to live." 100,000 first printing; 13-city author tour; simultaneous audiobook.

May 1, 2004
The celebrated author of The Unquiet Mind swings away from the mind's darker recesses to examine boundless enthusiasm. With a 13-city author tour.

Copyright 2004 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2004
Jamison, a psychiatry professor at Johns Hopkins, continues to produce groundbreaking work, following her controversial " Touched with Fire " (1996), in which she links artistic temperament and manic depression; " An Unquiet Mind" (1995), in which she took huge professional and personal risks by revealing herself to be bipolar; and " Night Falls Fast" (1999), in which" " she correlates depression with suicide. Now Jamison switches to the brighter side of the mind and explores exuberance, a contagious high mood and energy state that is engaging, sometimes transfiguring, and essential to our existence. Exuberance is derived from the natural world in which play, which links with curiosity and learning, is "nearly universal in the more cognitively complex animals." Play and exuberance are central to the development of chimps and rats, and even cause porcupines to dance. As to humans, Jamison cites Teddy Roosevelt, John Muir, and James Watson as examples of exuberance coupled with leadership abilities, as well as a master of mood manipulation, P. T. Barnum, as she examines people's search for this buoyancy, this elated mood, this "need to throw up sky-rockets" via dance, music, entertainment, and drugs. Throughout, Jamison's writing flows with the powerful passion it celebrates, capturing the reader's attention from the start. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)