Delusions of Normality

In Delusions of Normality: Sanity, Drugs, Sex, Money and Beliefs in America, J P Harpignies argues convincingly that many of the unspoken assumptions underlying our media's discourse about our society are at serious odds with the reality of our lives. Delusions offers a bracing but entertaining look at some of the darker corners of American life, providing a corrective lens to our rose-colored myopia about how we really are. It offers compelling evidence that we are collectively far less sane, far more corruptible, and far 'druggier', kinkier and zanier than we generally admit. Educators, social scientists, therapists and the merely curious, take note. KEY POINTS: All of us compare ourselves to others and wonder how we fit in, and if we are "normal." Delusions of Normality has the potential to catalyze necessary conversations and debate about very visceral issues such as sex, drugs, money, sanity, and how we see the world, in the course of our lives. While aspects of this topic have been written about in other contexts, no other book reflects about so many core aspects of our psychosocial life to eloquently expose the chasm between our stated norms and the realities on the ground.