Norman Cousins

In this book, a seasoned commentator on world affairs discusses the way power in government becomes enlarged, exploited, and institutionalized—not just as the result of external dangers, real or contrived, but as the result of the way the arms race spills over into and dominates foreign policy. The clandestine operation that led to the Iran-Contra affair, Norman Cousins observes, is a recent example of dangerous trend with its own momentum. Mr. Cousins returns here to the central theme that dominated the editorial pages of the Saturday Review during the thirty years of his editorship: the challenge to human freedom and safety represented by vast destructive power slipping away from the means of control.

Cousins recalls key moments from his forty years of learning, editing and writing, reporting on important events, acting as a presidential emissary, and working on health projects, and tells of his work with famous men and women.

A classic survey of the practice of treating life-threatening illnesses through humor and patient participation draws on the author's experience of collaborating with his doctor to combat an irreversible disease using a combination of laughter therapy and bolstering the body's natural resources. Reprint. 10,000 first printing.

The premise of Norman Cousins's enormously influential work is that the human mind is capable of promoting the body's capacity for combating illness and healing itself even when faced with a seemingly hopeless medical predicament. The author recounts his personal experiences while working in close collaboration with his doctor to overcome a crippling and supposedly irreversible disease, and illustrates the life-saving and ultimately life-prolonging benefits to be gained by taking responsibility for one's own well-being. Cousins's story is inspirational reading for anyone contending with a serious illness.

The author draws on interviews with doctors, patients, medical students, and research scientists to examine how determination, hope, love, and laughter can have beneficial physical consequences for sufferers of severe diseases