Bad Childhood--Good Life: How to Blossom and Thrive in Spite of an Unhappy Childhood

Tis the season, right? For childhood issues to flare up just in time for the trip home for the holidays. Instead of resolving to lose those pesky 10 pounds, 2006 may be the perfect time to stop letting a bad childhood ruin another year, says Schlessinger, author of seven New York Times bestsellers and host of an internationally syndicated radio talk show. Schlessinger uses radio listeners' call-ins, her own stories and a little help from Carly Simon to help adults stuck in the past break free from destructive patterns and move peaceably forward. ""The truth is that there is always a battle between the history and the present,"" she writes. Schlessinger tailors her advice staples (take charge, get tough, be positive, live for something other than yourself) toward securing victory over childhood traumas by admonishing readers against thinking emotionally about emotional subjects, advocating black and white reasoning (one listener's mother is deemed ""evil"") and proposing an amoeba-brainless and unthinking-constitutes a workable decision making model. Readers already of the Schlessinger school will find much here to appreciate, though it's doubtful this will win her any new fans.