"Superpowers" is a very funny, but serious account of a responsible, perhaps too responsible, young man growing up abruptly over a period of a few weeks. Chipper's mother died on a Sunday. He was admitted to the hospital the following Tuesday with what the doctor described as a "life-threatening" asthma attack; and then, as Chipper remarks, "Things began to run downhill." When he wakes up in the hospital, Chipper encounters an apparition, named Hal. Hal, who turns out during his different appearances throughout the book to be moody, sarcastic, funny and cynical, is dressed farcically in strange hats and mismatched socks and a variety of costumes. He explains to Chipper that the world is in peril; and at such times he appears on earth to award a superpower to someone, in this case Chipper, so that person can save the world. It is not clear why Chipper is chosen. Neither, for that matter, is it clear why others throughout history were chosen to receive a superpower. Hal's account of their misadventures for the most part are a hilarious retelling of historical events and stories from mythology. It is, of course, critically important that Chipper picks the right superpower because the life he will lead eventually will be determined by that ability, just as the life everyone else leads is determined by that particular person's strength and weaknesses. Chipper's mother was a loving, but overprotective, woman who thought her son could do anything, any wonderful thing, but was unable to cross the street safely by himself.Without her overbearing guidance, Chipper has to suddenly decide for himself what to do next. Helping him to work out his future, and theirs, are his two best friends: Albert, an enthusiastic but credulous young man who feels doomed by the prospect of going into his father's dress business and by the existence of a younger sister, and John, "the smartest kid in the world," who has self-doubts, nevertheless, and is trying to come to terms with being homosexual. There are vivid and very funny accounts of a seance, a visit to a psychic, and, of course, a poker game. Barbara is Chipper's assertive girl friend who accompanies him to the Junior Prom, although he doesn't remember inviting her. When she is badly burned in an accident, as is Chipper, the two of them are brought to the hospital where Chipper in a benumbed state from pain medication disarms a terrorist who is threatening to blow up the hospital with a bomb. This comical scene takes place in the middle of a police stand-off with the terrorist. Another important character is Pannio, a street kid whose philosophy of enjoying life now represents a counterpoint to Chipper's struggle to decide his future. A still further contrast to Chipper's seriousness of purpose is his older brother's decision to become a hedge-fund manager. Then there is Super, the school superintendent, who is, indeed, super in one particular way, the ability to keep working and enjoying life despite enormous physical handicaps. Finally, there is Chipper's father, a sullen and embittered man whose resentment of his son may rise to dangerous levels. Before dying, Chipper's mother warned him to "watch out" for his father. And there is always in the background of "Superpowers" the tragedy of illness and death. Chipper, who is especially6 maginative and sensitive, tries to put his mother's death out of mind until a psychiatrist brings him back gently to dealing with her loss. But the book is at its heart a witty and optimistic celebration of growing up and of life itself. Growing up means separating from parents and developing one's own values. To some extent, it means challenging authority. It means coping with the uncertainties of sex; and it means, of course, deciding on a career and with it a way of living. In the case of Chipper it means learning how to fulfill his responsibility to other people. And then he gets his superpowe

Detroit Tom was the biggest kid on his block, and probably the next block too, and strong, super-strong, maybe even stronger than that. He was "really" strong. But dumb. Detroit Tom ranked 98 on the dumb scale, which may not be good enough to become a criminal mastermind--which was Tom's ambition. But, then again, "Big Louie," Tom's role model was a top-flight criminal, when he wasn't in jail, and he reached pretty high-up on the dumb scale too. In these two adventures, Detroit Tom and the guys from his gang: "Ratsie" Ratowitz, who was good at plotting and conniving, "Speedy" Arnold, who has some sort of sleeping disorder and falls asleep during burglaries, and "Fat Bernie," whose favorite thing to steal is food, set out to commit the two heists of the century. Aided by "Smelly Beatrice," of course. In "Detroit Tom and the Famous Fruit Stand Robbery," Detroit Tom and his gang get by the moat and the armed guards in an attempt to steal the secret fruit formula. In "Detroit Tom and the Saint What's- His- Name Festival," Detroit Tom scales the model of the Eiffel Tower to foil a robbery being committed by "Even Bigger Louie" and his gang. And then the bugs come. Other characters, including "Horrendous, the Dog,""Charlie the Nose," and"Filet of Soul," disturb the otherwise idyllic and rainbow-colored setting of "bug city." There are earthquakes, and fires and people running around in different directions. The dead-pan narrative adds to the fun. At the center of these hilarious stories, however, is Detroit Tom and his mishaps and misadventures in his star-crossed attempts to become a master criminal when he only comes up to two and a half on the brain scale. " Detroit Tom and His Gang" is written for eight-year olds and up. And way up. It is a witty take-off on young adult novels and their account of the troubled aspirations of kids and their attempts to bond with each other. Still, because Tom is not as bad as he would like to be, the many morals of theses stories, all spelled out explicitly, include "Crime does not pay." or at least "Crime does not pay very much."

Don't despair Failing at a previous diet and exercise regimen does not mean you are doomed to fail in the future. There was never much chance in the first place that the usual programs would work. And something can be learned from failure. The approach described in "The Stuff Yourself Diet" seems paradoxical, but it will work. It does not depend on will power. Losing weight is one thing, but no one can maintain a proper weight indefinitely by an effort of will alone. It is impossible to go through life hungry. This approach relies on a familiar psychological mechanism, "preemptive action," the ability to prevent undesirable behaviors by first engaging in other behaviors that interfere with those that are undesirable. In the matter of dieting, this means stuffing yourself with the right foods, so that you will forego eating other fattening foods. Most dieters have failed to maintain their proper weight for any length of time, and have become discouraged. I am hopeful, nevertheless, that the reader will engage in a leap of faith and try to diet just one more time, this time properly F. Neuman, M.D. Fredric Neuman, M.D. is the Director of the Anxiety and Phobia Center of White Plains Hospital. He has designed weight-loss programs and has successfully guided numerous patients to their proper weight. Permanently. He is the author of numerous books, including novels which have been acclaimed internationally. Warren Goodman has been a food critic and consultant, a biologist, a writer, and an attorney. He is responsible for the recipes and food commentary in "The Stuff Yourself Diet."

The wicked son of the Passover service asks what the service means to the other congregants. Because the question itself implies that he is not part of the group, he is told that had he been in Egypt during the exodus, the Lord would not have saved him. This book is about skepticism and the price the skeptic pays for questioning the views of others. "Yes, it's true. The heavens have opened up, the seas have parted. The world as we know it is gone forever." That is what the Coosa sisters tell Dr. John Aster, a psychiatrist. It is immediately evident to him that they are delusional, but he doesn't really understand--he questions them-- why they share the same delusion. He arranges for them to be hospitalized, separately, so that without the support of each other their delusion will fade. As a punishment, Oona Coosa, before leaving his office hands him a magical card that transports him to another world, Wendle. Wendle is a wonderful and wacky place where magic works, and where Dr. Aster finds that he has special magical powers, which, unfortunately, he cannot control. Nevertheless, his coming is accepted by everyone as fulfilling a prophecy. He is just in time to save the world, everyone believes. He is joined first by Pinzle, whose single magical ability is to conjure beer. He personal tragedy, he reveals, is that he was a foundling, found in a tree; and he is umbilicusless, that is, he has no belly button. When the Castle of Doom springs up magically in front of them, they encounter the proprietor, the Ebony Warlock and his assistant Aargh. Captive in the castle is Lila, a beautiful Princess of the Arrid Wastes, who takes one look at Dr. Aster and decides he is the man she has been destined for, who will save her and father her children and make fertile at last all the Arrid Wastes. The Ebony Warlock, and Lila, and Pinzle, too, all tell their stories and the story of their families, and the purpose each of them has divined for themselves and for Dr. Aster. Dr. Aster hears these stories, which seem to him nonsense, but he is drawn anyway into the conflicts which spring up around him one after the other, through which he is guided unreliably by Bernie the Spy. In order to forestall the opening of The Chasm, destined to swallow all of Wendle, Dr. Aster and his companions travel across Wendle in search of three wise men who will open the Portals of Power and fulfill the prophecy of Creepy Charlotte. Wherever they go are destruction and disaster precipitated in part by Dr. Aster's desperate attempts at magic. All of the people on Wendle are driven by their own fervently held beliefs, all of them contradictory. Dr. Aster is pummeled unmercifully along the way of learning the lesson which is the purpose of his coming to Wendle.

"Come One, Come All" is a locked-room murder mystery, and a take-off on locked-room murder mysteries. It is a comic novel, but realistic. Abe Redden, the narrator, is a young psychiatrist who was widowed three years ago. He is, consequently, still depressed, yet retains an ironic sense of humor. He is skeptical, insubordinate and combative--yet kind. He is enlisted to help a beleaguered women's health center in New York City The center is besieged by two groups of rioters, one supporting gay rights and the other right to life. They quarrel with certain programs of the center and, of course, with each other. The book treats the opposing points of view of the protestors and the clinic staff sympathetically. Two murders take place, and Redden, himself, becomes a target of the murderer. Redden meets Tina Cantor, the newly appointed head of a treatment program for sexual disorders and presumed author of a lurid and wildly successful novel about a sex treatment program in the Midwest. They fall in love. There is a very funny seduction scene that continues off and on throughout most of the book. Adam Adamson is a psychiatric patient who claims to come from 150 years in the future and is, therefore, able to foretell some of Redden's future behavior. He is interviewed by the popular press and gives an hilarious account of life in the future. He claims to know something crucial about the murders taking place, but has forgotten just what. Many of the characters are psychiatrists, and so a subsidiary story line contrasts comically the psychoanalytic and the competing "organic" theories of sexual behavior. Cyril Kelly is in charge of the gynecological service at the Women's Center. Despite being a devout Catholic, he performs abortions. He is given to telling outlandish (but true) anecdotes of sexual misadventures. Lieutenant Edgar Brown is a physically imposing, but soft-spoken, Black police detective in charge of the two murder investigations. All the action takes place in the context of a political dispute between the Mayor of New York and the Borough President. The setting is New York City and, more specifically, the Psycho-medicine ward at Bellevue Hospital and the streets in front of the Women's Center. Since all the main characters are physicians, there is considerable discussion of medical conditions and medical mishap. Abe Redden, the protagonist of "Come One, Come All" appeared first in "The Seclusion Room and in "Maneuvers" He was described then by The New Republic as "an intriguing and totally sympathetic hero" and by the New York Times as "unusually well-drawn."

A hilarious and harrowing novel, MANEUVERS is in the vein of Catch-22 and M*A*S*H*, except that it is set in peacetime. As Captain Abe Redden's superior officer likes to remind him, "Warfare is emotionally upsetting to everyone." However, for Captain Redden, M.D., being an Army psychiatrist on garrison duty in West Germany during the early 1960s is just as taxing, and dangerous. First the teenage daughter of a fellow officer dies in the post hospital's emergency room the night Redden is on duty. And then a young lieutenant involved in highly classified electronic espionage seeks out Dr. Redden for help-only to disappear from his office. The convolutions and confrontations make for a very funny and very poignant story spiced with suspense and insight.

Is a loved one close to you dealing with an emotional illness like: depression, mania, senility, suicide, terminal illness, schizophrenia, child abuse or psychiatric emergencies? This book will help you care for them more effectively. The families of the emotionally ill are faced with a most difficult and painful task. Wanting to help, as they always do, they too often feel at a loss trying to cope with the frustrating, often self-defeating behavior of the people they are caring for. Along with genuine concern and love, therefore, families often feel guilt, anger, and resentment. This confusion of feelings interferes with the therapeutic process and prevents family members from realizing what they can do to aid recovery. When the care of the patient takes place primarily in the home, as it usually does, the need to understand is particularly urgent. What psychiatrist Fredric Neuman provides is a guide for the various people-including family members, paraprofessional therapists, and professionals-who are called upon to help those suffering from mental and emotional disorders. He gives no easy answers. Instead, he offers practical and useful advice that allows families and other involved persons to work with the primary therapist to determine treatment. Through the straightforward presentation of representative cases Dr. Neuman is able to shed much-needed light on the dark passages of emotional illness. The return to mental health is never simple, but there is hope. Caring will help those involved discover that hope through understanding.

We live in worrisome times. Perhaps chief among these worries is a concern about health. Newly discovered diseases, ranging from Legionnaires' disease and Lyme disease all the way to AIDS, are reported regularly in the press. At the same time, expensive new technological devices, such as the CAT scan or the PET scan, are trumpeted urgently as ways of diagnosing and warding off otherwise hidden but possibly fatal conditions. New medical treatments, and alternative medical treatments, are advertised on television. It is no wonder that people focus on their health. And in the face of a prolonged or obscure illness, everyone becomes a health worrier. Nevertheless, some people worry all the time. Experiencing any kind of physical symptom, they imagine the worst possible illness. And they tend to express emotional distress by developing physical symptoms. These men and women are suffering from health anxiety. Their fears are unrealistic, but not entirely irrational. They are an outgrowth of certain common childhood experiences. Taken together, they reflect a set of mistaken ideas: about the nature of physical illness. about diet and sleep and bodily functions. about doctors and the way they think. about drugs and their side-effects. about physical examinations and laboratory tests. and about dying and death itself. Health anxiety is a distressing and debilitating condition and untreated continues on for years, worsening again every time the affected person becomes slightly ill. An innovative program of treatment begun in 1996 by the Anxiety and Phobia Center of White Plains Hospital has been tested overtime and found to relieve this otherwise chronic condition. This book and its companion, Worried Sick? The Workbook, explain the principles of the cognitive-behavioral treatment of health anxiety and give detailed direction on how to implement such a program. In addition, specific information is given correcting the various misconceptions of the health worrier. Experience has shown that health worriers willing to follow the explicit instructions in these books will experience considerable and long-lasting relief of their health anxiety.

Do you or someone you know fear: flying? enclosed places? speaking aloud? bridges? other phobias? If you do, Rising Above Fear can help For the millions of people who face phobia problems every day, reassuring advice and help are at hand in Rising Above Fear: Healing Phobias Panic and Extreme Anxiety. For the first time, Dr. Fredric Neuman, Director of the nationally respected White Plains Phobia Clinic, provides the basics of that center's time-tested program that you can use in your own home. You'll learn the ten principles of exposure therapy, one of the most effective methods of treating phobias, with its special emphasis on: tools for dispelling panic attacks, dealing with setbacks, setting up a diary to chart your progress, choosing the right medication and the role of friends and family. With special charts, clearheaded advice, and the expertise that the White Plains Clinic can offer, Rising Above Fear gives you everything you need to act on your phobias and begin to overcome them

Health anxiety is the inclination to worry excessively about one's health. This fear is so pervasive and stubborn that most health worriers continue to worry even when reassured by their doctors that there is nothing the matter with them. This workbook is a companion to the book: Worried Sick? The Exaggerated Fear of Physical Illness. The book gives an explanation of the causes of this anxiety disorder and the principles of treatment Worried Sick? The Workbook presents a week by week prescription on how to implement this program. It is intended as a detailed guide for the health worrier. Included are forms for the record-keeping that is essential. Included, also, is all the information necessary for psychologists and other professionals to institute their own program for the treatment of health anxiety. Indeed, as this common emotional disorder is recognized more readily, similar treatment programs have begun to appear in different medical centers around the country. There is a surprisingly high rate of success for a condition that had been thought previously to be resistant to every form of treatment.

Abe Redden was very surprised when he found Seymour Ratner dead in the seclusion room. It was true that at one point or another almost everyone at Four Elms, a private psychiatric hospital, had expressed a desire to throttle Seymour. He was driving everyone crazier even Redden, his psychiatrist. And Seymour was always claiming that someone was out to get him. But it was also true that people are not supposed to die in seclusion rooms the "safe" rooms that have absolutely nothing in them; and nobody could have gotten into or out of that particular room, since the keyhole was blocked with wire. Nor could Seymour have killed himself, for there was a guard stationed all night at the door, observing him. Most important, Seymour Ratner was more alive than any other person at that hospital. It was unthinkable that he should die. Nevertheless, Seymour was dead, found hanging from a strip of cloth in the seclusion room. His final words: THEY HAVE KILLED ME. Enter Detective William Moore. What he finds are a rash of threatening letters, two more suspected murders, several rapes, and the most bizarre group of suspects imaginable, among them a woman who believes the Mafia is shooting rays at her, a man whose tenuous grasp of reality has reduced him to complete ineptitude, his sidekick, who is incapable of distinguishing people from toilet paper, a man who speaks only in a mysterious tongue, a young man who believes policemen communicate by scratching their behinds, an alcoholic, a rapist, a catatonic minister, and a child abuser. Half of these people are also hospital staff. Moreover, the number-one suspect is a disheveled, morose man who has had brushes with the law before and who just happens to be a very dedicated and very good doctor called Abraham Redden. What it all adds up to is a fast, furious, riotously funny tale of murder and intrigue, set in a place where the usual standards of sanity don't apply, where nothing is ever normal. More important, it is also a convincing portrait of real people trying to understand their responsibilities to each other, a remarkable evocation of the madness that is the modern-day psychiatric institution.