Joy, inspiration, and hope /

Kast is a faculty member at the University of Zurich and on the staff of the C.G. Jung Institute. This translation of her most recent book presents an analysis of the positive emotions from the perspective of a Jungian therapist. The translator has done an excellent job, and the book reads well. Kast aimed the work at a wide audience and wrote so that only a general familiarity with Jungian concepts is necessary to follow the discussion. The book is based on anecdote, citations from general works, and Kast's own analyses; it ignores the considerable body of scientific research on the emotions, some of which is quite relevant to joy, inspiration, and hope. Because of this, it is unlikely that Kast's work will be of interest to either serious researchers or advanced students in the area. Its readership will most likely come from those looking for a nontechnical and entertaining account of the positive emotions or those attracted to relatively nontechnical Jungian analyses.-R. Madigan, University of Alaska, Anchorage

In this first installment in the ``Fay Book Series in Analytical Psychology,'' Kast (psychology, Univ. of Zurich) presents a Jungian existential analysis of joy. While much has been written about the dark emotions of depression and anxiety, joy and hope are often ignored. ``When we work with our emotions,'' Kast writes, ``we work with our identity.'' She recommends developing an ``autobiography of joy,'' which is a technique of recalling past happy events in order to restructure the present. Certain that civilization today contains a lack of ecstasy and a loss of inspiration, Kast also discusses the relevance of the mythology of Dionysus, mysticism, and religious ecstasy. She follows with a documentation of the existential existence of hope from Sartre and Camus. Her work could be considered the academic counterpart to Norman Cousins ( Head First: The Biology of Hope , LJ 10/1/89), who endorses Kast's theories. A glossary and references are appended. Recommended for academic psychology collections.-- Lisa Wise, Steele Memorial Lib., Elmira, N.Y. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.