Twilight of American Sanity: A Psychiatrist Analyzes the Age of Trump

Unravel[s] the national psyche that brought our politics to this moment. Evan Osnos, The New Yorker

A landmark book, from one of the worlds most prominent psychiatrists (The Atlantic): Allen Frances analyzes the nation, viewing the rise of Donald J. Trump as darkly symptomatic of a deeper societal distress that must be understood if we are to move forward. Equally challenging and profound, Twilight of American Sanity joins a small shelf of essential titlesArlie Hochschilds Strangers in Their Own Land is anotherthat help explain why and how the Trump presidency happened (Kirkus).

It is comforting to see President Donald Trump as a crazy man, a one-off, an exceptionnot a reflection on us or our democracy. But in ways I never anticipated, his rise was absolutely predictable and a mirror on our soul. What does it say about us, that we elected someone so manifestly unfit and unprepared to determine mankinds future? Trump is a symptom of a world in distress, not its sole cause. Blaming him for all our troubles misses the deeper, underlying societal sickness that made possible his unlikely ascent. Calling Trump crazy allows us to avoid confronting the craziness in our societyif we want to get sane, we must first gain insight about ourselves. Simply put: Trump isnt crazy, but our society is. from TWILIGHT OF AMERICAN SANITY

More than three years in the making: the world's leading expert on psychiatric diagnosis, past leader of the American Psychiatric Associations DSM (the bible of psychology), and author of the influential international bestseller on the medicalization of ordinary life, Saving Normal, draws upon his vast experience to deliver a powerful critique of modern American societys collective slide away from sanity and offers an urgently needed prescription for reclaiming our bearings. Widely cited in recent months as the man who quite literally wrote the diagnostic criteria for narcissism, Allen Frances, M.D., has been at the center of the debate surrounding President Trumps mental statequoted in Evan Osnoss May 2017 New Yorker article (How Trump Could Get Fired) and publishing a much-shared opinion letter in the New York Times (An Eminent Psychiatrist Demurs on Trumps Mental State). Frances argues that Trump is bad, not mad--and that the real question to wrestle with is how we as a country could have chosen him as our leader. Twilight of American Sanity is an essential work for understanding our national crisis.