Life and How to Survive It

If all pop psychology-self-help books were as sprightly and insightful as this, they would corner the market. Psychiatrist Skynner and humorist Cleese of Monty Python fame last collaborated on Families and How to Survive Them. Here, they return to the topic of family, then move beyond. Cleese, a former patient of Skynner's, confines himself largely to the role of straight man in their dialogue, although he, too, offers insights. Together they expand the idea of the healthy individual raised in a healthy family becoming a contributor to a healthy society. Particularly relevant is their astute analysis of our society's attitudes toward directness, money, celebrity and winning. The authors go on to discuss values, religion, death and change, all with an ingratiating lack of dogmatism. Cartoonist Handelsman has encapsulated the ideas in apt and witty illustrations. (Jan.)