Richard L Rapson: 4 books

In Magical Thinking and the Decline of America, Richard L. Rapson, a leading cultural historian, engages in a unique dialogue. Twenty years ago he wrote American Yearnings: Love, Money, and Endless Possibility. This book looked at large issues of the day from a historical perspective: show business,...

Dangerous Characters is about people of all kinds, stuck with their unique personalities and trying to negotiate their ways through lifes bramble strewn path. As intellectual historians, psychologists of love, and psychotherapists, Elaine Hatfield and Richard L. Rapson bring to bear their sharp and wry observations upon a constellation of vivid characters.

When people are in a certain mood, whether elation or depression, that mood is often communicated to others. When we are talking to someone who is depressed it may make us feel depressed, whereas if we talk to someone who is feeling self-confident and buoyant we are likely to feel good about ourselves....

In the 17th century, critics of John Milton observed that in Paradise Lost, Lucifer steals the show. The same thing holds true today. We begin with a fanciful tale of God and Satan. What follows is a collection of true stories about Societys roguesthe flimflam artists, whores, painted ladies, voodoo...