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While The Tyranny of the Normal: An Anthology is a collection of different perspectives on the lives of people whose physical appearance places them outside cultural norms, What's Normal?, the companion volume, examines the issues of "abnormalities" in mental health, intelligence, and sexual behavior. Both volumes are comprised of selected literary and fictional readings and commentary by health care professionals and medical ethicists.The first section of What's Normal? presents a wide-ranging collection of essays and articles written by renowned clinicians who address clinical, ethical, and social issues related to mental illness and disorders. The second section uses fiction, poetry, and drama to portray mental and behavioral abnormalities, sometimes from "inside" the perspective of the deviant and sometimes from the experiences of family, friends, and other engaged observers. Excerpts that examine the treatment of mental health, intelligence, and sexual conduct are cited from such literary works as Equus, Of Mice and Men, Like Water for Chocolate, and Sula.
About the author
Carol Donley is professor of English and codirector of the Center for Literature, Medicine, and Health Care Professions at Hiram College, Hiram, Ohio. She is the coauthor of Einstein as Myth and Muse (Cambridge University Press, 1986), and coeditor of Recognitions: Doctors and Their Stories (Kent State University Press, 2002). Sheryl Buckley is an anesthesiologist in private practice in Cleveland, Ohio. She received her M.D. from the Medical College of Pennsylvania. She is coeditor, with Carol Donley, of The Tyranny of the Normal (Kent State University Press, 1996).
Summary
This is the companion text to "The Tyranny of the Normal: An Anthology". It examines the issues of "abnormalities" in mental health, intelligence, and sexual behaviour. Both books are comprised of literary and fictional readings and commentary by health care professionals and medical ethicists.
