A national bestselling author examines one of the mind's most exalted statesтАФone that is crucially important to learning, risk-taking, social cohesiveness, and survival itself.┬а
тАЬ[Jamison is] that rare writer who can offer a kind of unified field theory of science and art.тАЭ тАФThe Washington Post Book World
With the same grace and breadth of learning she brought to her studies of the mindтАЩs pathologies, Kay Redfield Jamison examines one of its most exalted states: exuberance. This тАЬabounding, ebullient, effervescent emotionтАЭ manifests itself everywhere from childтАЩs play to scientific breakthrough.
Exuberance: The Passion for Life introduces us to such notably irrepressible types as Teddy Roosevelt, John Muir, and Richard Feynman, as well as Peter Pan, dancing porcupines, and Charles SchulzтАЩs Snoopy. It explores whether exuberance can be inherited, parses its neurochemical grammar, and documents the methods people have used to stimulate it. The resulting book is an irresistible fusion of science and soul.