Do you know a sociopath?

The Sociopath Next Door, by Martha Stout, Ph.D.

When I began this book, I didn’t have a very clear idea of what a sociopath was. The author explains that a sociopath is someone who operates completely without conscience; a sociopath is not biologically able to feel guilt, shame or empathy. This is a difficult concept for most of us to wrap our minds around.

Furthermore, the author cites statistics saying that roughly 4% of people are sociopaths.

That means that of every one hundred people that you know, 4 of them are sociopaths. Are there people in your life who routinely manipulate or sabotage you? Do they cry crocodile tears when you confront them with their bad behavior? Well, you may have just figured out who the sociopaths in your life are.

This book also offers 13 rules for dealing with them.

This book can be found on the 2nd Floor of the Waterloo Public Library, 616.8582 STO. It is also available as a CD Book, which can be found on the 1st Floor.

c Waterloo Public Library 2006

Looking for a Ship

The day before Christmas Eve, one of our reference librarians spent the morning weeding the 900s. I normally don't scan the weeds, but the 900s contain a lot of material of interest to old history and New Journalism buffs like me, so I took a quick look at her cart. I'm glad that I did as John McPhee's Looking for a Ship caught my eye. I'd already read a couple of his other works, Close Encounters with the Archdruid and Curve of Binding Energy, and figured I couldn't go wrong with another of McPhee's titles; I was right!

As a dyed-in-the-wool Walter Mitty type, Looking for a Ship had all the features I crave: hardware, travel, historical context, and lots of detail. McPhee uses the experiences of seamen and their ship to tell the story of the decline and fall of the the United States' maritime industry.

The author gets on a ship by joining licensed second mate Andy Card in his quest for one of the rapidly dwindlng ship board berths. Card finally gets a mate's job on the SS Stella Lykes, bound from Charleston for ports on the western coast of South America. Along the way, McPhee becomes acquainted with the ancient ship's master, Paul McHenry Washburne, whose 50+ years of sea-stories kept this reader fascinated right to the surprising, but thought-provoking finish.

As a long-time McPhee fan I opened Looking for a Ship with high expectations. I wasn't disappointed. I'll drop it in the book return slot tomorrow morning; it will be back on the shelf soon!

c Waterloo Public Library 2006