Review of Figments of Persuasion Field Guide

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Carol McCoy Phelps
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Review of Figments of Persuasion Field Guide

Post by Carol McCoy Phelps »

[Following is a volunteer review of "Figments of Persuasion Field Guide" by Nancy L Vallette.]
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5 out of 5 stars
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Confronting one’s foibles is no fun. We may even be hardwired to deny that we experience emotional problems. Nancy Valletta authored a book to help us examine our psychological and emotional responses to environmental stimuli. Valletta’s Field Guide to the Figments of Persuasion shines a whimsical light into the corners of the mind that we rarely think about, much less acknowledge openly. What are figments? They are illusive little idiosyncrasies that we all have. Get ready for a remarkable trek down the corridors of your psyche.

Most of the time, adults pay no attention to the figments. Nancy Valletta decided to write her book to reintroduce adults to the figments they used to see when they were children. Figments will do anything to catch the attention of their personal adults. They might even move things to watch the adults search before putting things back where they were. Do you remember misplacing your keys? Did you find them where you had looked before? Valletta calls these the “Addled Figments”—the ones who move things just for giggles.

There are many others. By naming feelings, expressions, and situations, Valletta’s book helps readers navigate the emotional and psychological landscapes of their lives in a non-threatening process. This book gives readers a private, personal, and provocative way to identify moods, feelings, and impulses.

I like the non-intrusiveness of this author’s approach. Readers can enjoy the light-hearted narrative that addresses potentially distressing psychiatric, emotional, or behavioral needs outside the clinical context. The author begins with two broad types of figments called “Figments of Emotions” and “Figments of Environments.” From there, she moves through a litany of emotions and feelings, each with its own page of engaging artwork.

I find nothing about this book to dislike. It is well-written and well-illustrated. I found minor editorial errors, indicative of good editing, so I did not deduct any stars. The book reaches out to help readers in an endearing but profound picture book format. For all these reasons, I rate this book s book 5 out of 5 stars.

I recommend this book to readers of all ages who possess adequate reading skills to understand the vocabulary. It may be helpful to read a sample of the digital book. This book is suitable for people of all religious and non-religious belief systems.

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Figments of Persuasion Field Guide
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J. Carol McCoy-Phelps
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