COMMENT:Showalter, a feminist literary critic, argues that many hysterical epidemics are sweeping the United States, giving alien abduction, satanic ritual abuse, multiple personalities, recovered memories, and, more controversially, Gulf War syndrome and chronic fatigue illness as examples. She focuses on the <em>stories</em> believers tell, explaining how they are often the only way troubled people can find to express themselves. The book has some flaws, pushing the "hysteria" explanation a bit too far at times, but overall it is an interesting example of how the humanities can be allied to skepticism. Worth reading.
DATE:19990628
KEYWORDS:psychology:history satanism UFO
MISC:244p.
PUBLISHER:Columbia University Press
SUBMITADDR:bibliographer@csicop.org
SUBMITNAME:Taner Edis
TITLE:Hystories: Hysterical Epidemics and Modern Culture
