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directly from the author (Dick McLeester,
P.O. Box
331, Amherst, Massachusetts 01002. $3.30 ppd.)
The handbook is divided into three
sections. The first
part consists of several essays by McLeester on various
aspects of dealing with dreams. Much of
this material
serves to orient the novice, but
what he writes is not
"old hat." See, for example, his helpful
essay, "Sharing
and Working on Dreams," which we have reprinted
on
page 164 of this journal. Another
of his essays, on
extending dreamwork into contemporary "consciousness
raising" activity, is truly groundbreaking.
The second and
most extensive section
of the
handbook is an annotated bibliography on
dreams. The
novice will find descriptions of the best
introductory
books on dreams from
a variety of theoretical
orientations. Even the most well-read
expert will find
references to interesting material not even suspected to
exist, together with the information needed
to obtain it.
There are sections in
the bibliography on
Native
American dream
psychology, parapsychological
dreaming, spiritual dimensions of dreaming and
dream-
related creativity, as well as supplementary
sections on
myth and fairy tales, fantasy and imagination, and altered
states of consciousness. Besides the books and
topics
you might expect, McLeester has located and described
books and articles related to dreams in science
fiction,
general literature, experimental education,
and social
activism. There are many references
to out-of-the-
mainstream publications, providing access to
material
we might not otherwise ever discover.
What's more,
since McLeester provides excerpts from
most of the
items, along with
his own commentaries,
the
bibliography itself is interesting to read.
The final section
of the book is a directory, giving
names and addresses of people who
are involved in
dreamwork. Many of these listings include
statements
by the people themselves, expressing
a willingness to
exchange ideas and methods. The directory is
a fitting
conclusion to a book that McLeester designed to
be of
service.
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