Twilight of American Sanity - by Allen Frances (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

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

A landmark book, from "one of the world's 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 titles--Arlie Hochschild's Strangers in Their Own Land is another--that 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 exception--not 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 mankind's 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 society--if we want to get sane, we must first gain insight about ourselves. Simply put: Trump isn't 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 Association's 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 society's 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 Trump's mental state--quoted in Evan Osnos's 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 Trump's 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.

From the Back Cover

"One of the world's most prominent psychiatrists" (The Atlantic), Allen Frances, MD--past leader of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders--delivers an unprecedented critique of modern American society's slide away from sanity and offers an urgently needed prescription for restoring our collective health and protecting our fragile democracy. Twilight of American Sanity authoritatively situates the rise of Donald Trump within the context of a nation increasingly gripped by delusion and blind to challenges posed by inequality, technological displacement, global warming, resource degradation, and overpopulation--threats that could doom future generations. "Blaming Trump for all our troubles," Frances writes, "misses the deeper, underlying societal sickness that made possible his unlikely ascent."

Review Quotes

"Terrifying. ... Investigate[s] Trump's sanity at full length. ... Frances applies his psychiatric expertise to diagnosing and understanding our mass affliction." -- Slate

"This welcome and insightful book joins a small shelf of essential titles--Arlie Hochschild's Strangers in Their Own Land is another--that help explain why and how the Trump presidency happened." -- Kirkus Reviews

"An unusual and important book." -- Elle

"Allen Frances is right: the deep questions are not about Trump but about the society in which he became even a plausible candidate, much less the president. May Twilight of American Sanity be an opportunity to think more clearly about who we are and what we really want!" -- Bill McKibben, environmentalist and author of The End of Nature and Free Radio Vermont

"One of the world's most prominent psychiatrists." -- The Atlantic (July/August, 2017)

"For some mental-health practitioners, the ethical debate [over Trump's mental state] is a distraction from a larger point. In Twilight of American Sanity, Allen Frances argues that the more urgent concern is unravelling the national psyche that brought our politics to this moment." -- Evan Osnos, The New Yorker

"An eminent psychiatrist." -- New York Times

"Lively, provocative. ... Frances indicts our broader societal insanity for electing Trump and embracing his views, and offers wide-ranging insights into human behavior and the consequences for society and governance." -- Norman Ornstein, contributing writer, The Atlantic; columnist, National Journal; and resident scholar, the American Enterprise Institute

"The State of the Nation according to the nation's leading psychiatrist: Allen Frances's Twilight of American Sanity is informed, insightful, illuminating, interesting, occasionally infuriating, but almost always right." -- Sir Simon Wessely, president of the Royal Society of Medicine and Regius Professor of Psychiatry at King's College, London

"Hard-hitting. ... A must-read." -- New York Journal of Books