Mental Health

Psychologist and writer Carol Tavris. Her latest book, "The Mismeasure of Woman," looks at the widespread but unacknowledged custom of defining norms according to men's bodies and behavior. Tavris shows that the real differences in gender are in power, resources, and life experiences. She also wrote a review of two books dealing with incest, called "Beware the Incest-Survivor Machine," for The New York Times Book Review. In it, she calls for a more reasoned, cautious approach to a very complicated issue. The review received a fire-storm of letters from readers.

Terry talks to Fred Newman, the founder of the Party, and Lenora Fulani's ("fah-lahn-nee") campaign manager.

Film critic Owen Gleiberman reviews "The Fisher King" the new film by Terry Gilliam, the director of "Brazil." It stars Robin Williams and Jeff Bridges.

Boyd's new book, "The Revolution of Little Girls," follows a child coming-of-age in the South in the 60s. (It's published by Knopf). Boyd's the author of two earlier novels, and a collection of essays, called "The Rebel Way of Knowledge."

Duberman has written a memoir about being gay in the 1950s -- before the gay liberation movement, and at a time when homosexuality was considered deviant behavior by the psychiatrists. It's called "Cures: A Gay Man's Odyssey.

Author Franz Lidz. His new book, "Unstrung Heroes," is a memoir growing up with four crazy uncles. He writes regularly for Sports Illustrated.

Critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "Freud, Dora, and Vienna 1900," by historian Hannah S. Decker. It's an account of Sigmund Freud's work with his patient Dora -- a case which has often been viewed and critiqued through the lens of contemporary feminist scholarship.

Jeffrey Masson was once a leading advocate of Freudian therapy. In recent years, he's condemned that type of approach. He shares his insights into conventional psychology in his new book, Final Analysis.

In 1985, novelist William Styron fell into a deep depression. He documented the years he was incapacitated by the illness, and how he coped, in his new book, Darkness Visible. Looking back at his early writing, Styron believes depression informed his novels, like The Confessions of Nat Turner and Sophie's Choice.

Actor, writer, and Monthy Python member John Cleese and therapist Robin Skynner. The pair have co-written a new book, "Families and How To Survive Them."

Writer Ken Kesey. Kesey was a leading figure of the 60's counterculture. As the leader of the Merry Pranksters, Kesey did as much as anyone to popularize the use of LSD and other hallucinogens. Kesey also wrote two of the most popular books of the era, "Sometimes a Great Notion" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." In 1986, Kesey wrote "Demon Box," a look back at his life since the 60s. Kesey has a new book, called "Caverns." It's a novel he co-wrote with the 13 members of his University of Oregon fiction class.

Musicologist H.C. Robbins Landon. His new book, "Mozart: The Golden Years," traces the most troubling and creative period of the composers life, the years 1781-91. During this period, Mozart completed three controversial operas, married and wooed his wife Constanze Weber, became entangled in financial difficulties, and lived through the death of his father. In this book, the second of two volumes on the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Landon, further explores the link between Mozart's "manic depressive disorder" and his creativity.

Spiegelman edits the underground comics magazine Raw. He is best known for graphic novel Maus, about his father's experiences in Nazi concentration camps, which was widely celebrated. Raw recently featured a new chapters in that story.

Ted Schultz edited a new book called The Fringes of Reason, which compiles conflicting opinions of supernatural, New Age, and cosmological world views. Schultz is now studying entomology, which he says is related to his curiosity about what is and isn't real.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg considers how the ways communities describe themselves is changing. The emergence of the term "African American" is of particular interest; Nunberg thinks it suggests a shift away from appearance toward place of origin.

The Fresh Air critic reviews a new home video called Incredible Self-Confidence, which claims it can inspire viewers through hypnotism. Tucker says it doesn't quite succeed, but is relaxing nonetheless.

Film critic Stephen Schiff praises Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, a wildly-stylized farce that he says is weirdly touching.

Writer Patrick McGrath grew up near England's Broadmoor mental hospital, where his father worked. He is now a horror writer. His collection of short fiction is called Blood and Water and Other Tales. A novel is forthcoming.

Book John Leonard reviews Eva Luna by Isabel Allende and Mascara by Ariel Dorfman. Leonard says that, in different ways, neither of them are fully satisfying.

Writer Gerald Clarke. Clarke's biography of writer Truman Capote has just been published. Capote was the author of the seminal work In Cold Blood, but his writing was overshadowed by the excesses of his lifestyle and his reputation as the clownish fixture of the talk show circuit. Clarke's biography was 14 years in the making and was undertaken with Capote's full cooperation. Clarke has written extensively for Time magazine.