Book Review: Anger, the Misunderstood Emotion

Book Review

Anger, The Misunderstood Emotion
by Ms. Carol Tavris
Simon and Schuster
New York
1982
pgs 302
Trade paperback


Summary

I enjoyed this book simply because it attempted to dissect the emotion of anger. It attempted to take the fear out of expressing anger and the fear of hearing it from someone. It developed many different categories of anger, like rage, irritation, fear etc.

By comparing different societies outside our own American culture and the subcultures within our society, the author illustrates the part anger plays in holding up that society’s values and accepted types of behavior. It puts anger into the whole repertoire of emotions we express like joy, love, pleasure, fear and more.

Anger is seen as an unacceptable emotion when it is discussed, it is not a desirable response. Yet, on the unspoken level of acceptance in our society, anger is expected in many situations. Men are expected to get angry in situations where their “manhood” is threatened.

I also appreciated Tavris’s breakdown of how we tend to rationalize injustices, to avoid anger we “denigrate the victim”, we “deny” the existence of situations that threaten our concepts and values. We “reinterpret” the injustice and its outcome. We “blame ourselves” for misfortunes. We accept a “religion” that offers us a just world.

The book has a lot of data to digest. It is a little wordy. It is not clear to me the method she choose to illustrate the illogic of many statements, i.e., she quotes Rubin “Are you solidly aware that the purpose of warm, healthy anger is to deliver an affective (emotional) message in order to clear the air and to make corrections and reparations if necessary?” She adds in parens (Yes, and I’m also aware that corrections can be made without anger.) To me this is an example of how Rubin may not have characterized the type or level of anger he meant to be expressed, i.e., I think to some people merely taking a serious tone of voice can indicate displeasure and therefore anger, it is not the anger of loud voices. So, Tavris responds as if that is the type of anger he is addressing.

(https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/anger-carol-tavris/1113909951)

The Great Little Cookbook

In one of my random searches for recipes and free cookbooks, I found this little gem, The Great Little Cookbook, written by Sally Mackay, produced by New Zealand's Ministry of Social Development.
 
Ms. Mackay has created a cookbook jam-packed with information regarding shopping and creating healthy meals and snacks for adults, children and babies.
 
Her creative layouts pack a plethora of tips on each page using lists, boxes, shaded callouts, and a few graphics.

Some of the topics she covers are:

• serving sizes, types of vegetables, grains and milk 
• good fat vs bad fats 
• sugar and salt  
• eating sweets and dental health 
• menu planning and menu plan tips 
• shopping and pantry lists and tips 
• substitutes 
• food poisoning and food safety tips 
• food label analysis

Every page features multiple variations.

Mackay offers a wide range of recipes from Breakfast, to various meals with meat and fish, salads, soups, and birthday parties, and healthy baby tips.

I found the School lunches pages interesting.

The sandwich page is an example of how Mackay puts densely packed information on one page.




I laughed when I read her note on the Beans and Lentils pages, she said, "Lentil patties are not just for hippies."

I choose to try the Pasta Salad and Curry dressing on page 72. 





Pasta Salad
from: The Great Little Cookbook, pg 72 

Mix cooked pasta (not noodles), cooked mixed vegetables, chopped cucumber and sunflower seeds
 
Curry dressing
Add 1 teaspoon curry powder to yoghurt or mayonnaise
 
As usual, I adapted the recipe to work with what I have. I made two different types servings.

For one, I used cold spaghetti noodles and leftover frozen mixed vegetables. For the other, I used cold spaghetti noodles and some canned mixed vegetables. Plus, I made my own Curry Dressing.

Ria's Curry Dressing

Ingredients:

3 heaping tspns mayo
a small pour of plain yogurt
1 level tspn cumin


Process:

Add ingredients to empty glass jar and stir.
Add any number of spoonfuls to the spaghetti and vegetable mixture. Stir and mix well to coat the mixture.