Divine Madness: Ten Stories of Creative Struggle [Hardcover]

Jeffrey A. Kottler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 16, 2005

"Madness can afford the individual certain resources and abilities that are not available to others. The fantasy life, free flight of ideas, distortions of reality, and heightened senses . . . offer a unique perspective on the world."
—From the Introduction

Why do some extraordinary individuals overcome mental anguish and produce brilliant creative artistry that is often enhanced by their madness? New York Times best-selling author and noted psychologist Jeffrey Kottler explores this fascinating question in Divine Madness. His book is filled with the compelling stories of emotional turmoil that many great artists have undergone as they struggle for success and survival.

Jeffrey Kottler writes about the dramatic and tragic lives of cultural icons Sylvia Plath, Judy Garland, Mark Rothko, Ernest Hemingway, Virginia Woolf, Charles Mingus, Vaslav Nijinsky, Marilyn Monroe, Lenny Bruce, and Brian Wilson. In this riveting book, Kottler highlights the personal story of each of these extraordinary individuals and analyzes how they struggled to overcome their emotional hardships.

Divine Madness clearly differentiates between those who surrendered to their illness, often taking their own lives, and those who managed to endure and even recover. Kottler details how their profound psychological issues affected their lives and work, their great productivity and success, and how they strove to achieve some kind of personal stability.

The fascinating and brilliantly told stories in Divine Madness help us to find meaning in the incredible lives of these artists. They also serve as an inspiration for those who are grappling to rise above their own challenges and limitations and express themselves more productively and creatively.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

It's commonplace to observe that the line between genius and mental illness is razor thin, and critics point to a long list of writers, artists and musicians—from William Blake to Sylvia Plath—as illustrations. Kottler, a professor of counseling at California State University, Fullerton, superficially probes the relationship between madness and creativity through 10 case studies of artists who are as famous for their mental instability as their work: Sylvia Plath, Judy Garland, Mark Rothko, Ernest Hemingway, Virginia Woolf, Charles Mingus, Vaslav Nijinsky, Marilyn Monroe, Lenny Bruce and Brian Wilson. An excellent storyteller, he uses these case studies to illustrate the loneliness, sensitivity and intensity that characterized the lives of these artists and the extent to which their personal traumas and psychological instability blossomed into creative genius. For example, he tells how Plath's contentious relationship with her mother and her tortured marriage to Ted Hughes drove her into depression and eventually suicide but also fueled her poetic genius. But the stories of these artists are already very well known, and Kottler offers no genuinely new insights. Moreover, he resorts to sophomoric and clichéd notions—"we are all a little crazy, some more than others," "creativity is thinking outside the box"—to explain the relationship between madness and creativity. (Jan.)
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Review

"...fascinating and intimate portraits." (Glasgow Evening Times, February 2006)

"The Last Victim is an engrossing and gut-wrenching read!"
—Kirkus Reviews

"On Being a Therapist is one of those rare and exciting books that reaches deep into the heart of a profession and discloses not only its day-to-day workings but also the very personal satisfaction, problems, doubts, and joys its practitioners experience."
—Booklist

"In Travel That Can Change Your Life Kottler . . . believes that the urge to travel is activated by more than the need to take a break or see new sights, that is actually an unconscious desire to change something significant about ourselves. Kottler’s book builds convincingly on this intriguing theory. He offers suggestions for planning a journey that can lead to personal transformation."
—Chicago Tribune

It's commonplace to observe that the line between genius and mental illness is razor thin, and critics point to a long list of writers, artists and musicians—from William Blake to Sylvia Plath—as illustrations. Kottler, a professor of counseling at California State University, Fullerton, superficially probes the relationship between madness and creativity through 10 case studies of artists who are as famous for their mental instability as their work: Sylvia Plath, Judy Garland, Mark Rothko, Ernest Hemingway, Virginia Woolf, Charles Mingus, Vaslav Nijinsky, Marilyn Monroe, Lenny Bruce and Brian Wilson. An excellent storyteller, he uses these case studies to illustrate the loneliness, sensitivity and intensity that characterized the lives of these artists and the extent to which their personal traumas and psychological instability blossomed into creative genius. For example, he tells how Plath's contentious relationship with her mother and her tortured marriage to Ted Hughes drove her into depression and eventually suicide but also fueled her poetic genius. But the stories of these artists are already very well known, and Kottler offers no genuinely new insights. Moreover, he resorts to sophomoric and clichéd notions—"we are all a little crazy, some more than others," "creativity is thinking outside the box"—to explain the relationship between madness and creativity. (Jan.) (Publishers Weekly, November 14, 2005)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass (December 16, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787981494
• ISBN-13: 978-0787981495
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,358,901 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jeffrey A. Kottler has authored over 65 books in the field for counselors, therapists, teachers, and the public, including COMPASSIONATE THERAPY: WORKING WITH DIFFICULT CLIENTS; ON BEING A THERAPIST; COUNSELORS FINDING THEIR WAY; MAKING CHANGES LAST; COUNSELING SKILLS FOR TEACHERS; DIVINE MADNESS: TEN STORIES OF CREATIVE STRUGGLE; BAD THERAPY: MASTER THERAPISTS SHARE THEIR WORST FAILURES; THE CLIENT WHO CHANGED ME: STORIES OF THERAPIST PERSONAL TRANSFORMATION; and THE MUMMY AT THE DINING ROOM TABLE: EMINENT THERAPISTS REVEAL THEIR MOST UNUSUAL CASES AND WHAT THEY TEACH US ABOUT HUMAN BEHAVIOR.

Jeffrey has worked as a teacher, counselor, and therapist in a preschool, middle school, mental health center, crisis center, university, community college, and private practice. He has served as a Fulbright Scholar and Senior Lecturer in Peru and Iceland, teaching counseling theory and practice. He has also served as a visiting professor in New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong, and Nepal. He is currently Professor and Chair of the Counseling Department at California State University, Fullerton.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars One Star for the Choice of People, One Star for the Work, February 13, 2006

By 

D. Junius "djunius2" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Divine Madness: Ten Stories of Creative Struggle (Hardcover)

I agree with BogWoz that this is a sloppy treatment of the artists' lives that does little to add any new insights.

Being a follower of Charles Mingus and Lenny Bruce, I was interested in seeing what the author would say. Instead he mentions that Mingus's childhood friend Britt Woodman went on to play trombone with Miles Davis (he means Duke Ellington), and that the position in which the deceased Lenny Bruce was discovered was manipulated by the police (the police did wrap a bathrobe sash back around his arm and placed a box in the background that was labeled "syringe" -- although it was a bulb syringe and not hypodermic...the odd position of the body came from Bruce's friend discovering him and falling as he picked him up).

Albert Goldman's "Ladies and Gentleman -- Lenny Bruce!" is plagiarized (the mention of Lenny's mother nagging him to "Eat better. Exercise. Take care of himself..." is a direct lift from Goldman's work) and likely other biographies are borrowed from liberally.

Kottler also says things that are overblown such as "Judy Garland is perhaps the greatest performer ever...Garland's 1961 Carnegie performance is perhaps the greatest performance ever...Mingus is perhaps the greatest bass player ever." Everyone in the book is a master of their particular art, but anyone who would admire these artists would know that there are equally great artists who influenced or were influenced by these people. Is Kottler trying to validate his work by hammering at the idea that the people he's writing about are the most important ever? Why not Elvis? Why not Montgomery Clift (equally as messed up as Judy...and by the way, Judy and Monty were both in "Judgment at Nuremberg" but not in any scenes together, so Kottler citing Clift as an actor of caliber that Judy performed with is fudging the facts)? Why not Charlie Parker (way more messed up than Mingus, yet Parker is the model that Mingus is held to)? Why not Pollock, Roethke, Delmore Schwartz, James Dean, Richard Pryor?

Or are you planning "More Divine Madness: The Creative Struggle Continues"?

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it!, April 29, 2007

By 

Sam Buker (College Park, MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Divine Madness: Ten Stories of Creative Struggle (Paperback)

I am a college student in an abnormal psychology class. Divine Madness was for extra credit. I did not want to put the book down, I loved it. The stories are all very intrigueing, and things I never knew about some of the "stars" in the book. I would reccommend it for those that like psychology.

6 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Approach with Caution, April 3, 2006

By 

Lots "junewonder" (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Divine Madness: Ten Stories of Creative Struggle (Hardcover)

Poorly Written, January 25, 2006

Being a "doctor" does not necessarily make one a good writer, which is the case here. The subject matter is intriguing for sure, but the author here does nothing to elevate the subject matter beyond what is already quite well-known. What is surprising and a little unsettling however, in regards to having this written by a "doctor" is the continued use of expressions like "she wasn't quite right in the head" and the complete lack of medical insight, and more importantly, respect. There is also a general disrespect for women-- or rather "girls"-- as the author prefers to call them. Some of the facts are completely incorrect, and one wonders who the fact checkers and editors on this project are. The psychiatric and medical credibility of the author is nill, as well as the ability to write well. It is up for debate within which of these two trades he is most lacking in skill, ability, talent or integrity.