all day yesterday, God must have been waiting for the moment when i stepped off the escalator onto the ninth floor of Kaufmann’s and quite unwittingly into a wonderful surprise: bradley’s books! and not just any books. new, relevant books i want to have … at discount prices. so now i have them. well, four to start with:

• The Batterer: A Psychological Profile. Donald Dutton, 1995. [i can’t put it down – it’s about the personality configurations of abusive men, what elements of their childhood and young adulthood taught and reinforced abusive behavior, and how they can change.]


• The Self-Care Guide to Holistic Medicine. Robert Ivker, 1999. [the very concept of holistic health is so obvious, and so beautiful. and it’s not too out there, although it does list “releasing anger through punching bags” as an antidote to a stuffy nose.”]


• Listening to Prozac: Antidepressants and the Remaking of the Self. Peter Kramer, 1997. [we studied Kramer’s perspective in my abnormal psych class, during a debate over whether or not depression is a disease. i think he has a very balanced view of the sociocultural and biological components of depression.]


• We Are Not Alone: Learning to Live with Chronic Illness. Sefra Pitzele, 1986. [thankfully, i don’t live with chronic illness, but many, many people do and i want to be able to offer something more than “i’m sorry you’re sick.”]

all that for a grand total of $18 and two stamps on a frequent buyer’s card. books are my favourite kind of investment!