Reviews

From Laurel and Hardy's comedic surprise to the social unrest reflected in art and music, historians, anthropologists, and philosophers have long investigated the gamut of human emotions; here their conjectures and influences coalesce. Cultural historian and journalist Walton (Out of It: A Cultural History of Intoxication) wades into these murky waters using Darwin's basic emotions-happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise, and disgust-as a springboard for arguing for the inclusion of four additional emotions: jealousy, contempt, shame, and embarrassment. Drawing on a spectrum of rich references, including modern, ancient, popular, and religious, he then explores each emotion in an effort to expose its cultural manifestations and implications. Emotions, he demonstrates, have evolved from physiological reactions grounded in basic survival to moral responses that dictate the expression, resolution, and suppression of emotions. Although he does not resolve the mystery and controversy surrounding emotions, Walton sheds light on how we have arrived at an age where Sir Thomas More's utopia comes in pill form. Recommended for all collections.-Heather O'Brien, Ph.D. student, SLIS, Dalhousie Univ., Halifax, N.S. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.