PSYCHOBOOK – LOOKS AT ALL KINDS OF RIDICULOUS PSYCH TESTS USED THROUGHOUT THE CENTURIES

Psychobook: Games, Tests, Questionnaires, Histories
by Julian Rothenstein (editor)
Princeton Architectural Press
2016, 192 pages, 8.9 x 12.1 x 0.9 inches (hardcover)

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I am not afraid of toads. I do not like to see men in their pajamas. Someone has been trying to get into my car. I think I would like the work of a librarian. I do not always tell the truth.

The above statements are examples of what could appear on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, a “psychometric test” in which psychology patients must answer with only a “yes,” “no,” “true,” “false,” or “cannot say.” There is no place on the test to expand or explain your answers. The results of the exam help determine whether a test-taker is “normal” or “deviant.” This test has been helping to sort out the “crazies” from the “normals” since 1943, and yes, according to Psychobook, it’s still being used by some doctors today!

Psychobook, just released today, is a fun, fascinating, image-heavy book that looks at all kinds of ridiculous psych tests used throughout the centuries (some cancelled long ago, others still quacking along). Read about mental test kits such as: Lowenfeld Mosaic tests (make a design with colorful geometric toy pieces to see how carefree, thoughtful or anxious you are); the Szondi Test (see how your mind works by looking at portraits of men and guessing whether they’re homosexual, a psychopath, a maniac, or some other such type); Pictorial Completion Test (find out if your kid has delinquent tendencies by having them fill in a drawing with objects that are missing from the scene), and dozens more.

Psychobook even offers lots of tests you can take right from the book. Nervously, I took the Rorschach inkblot test (staring at a blob on a page that’s been folded in half so that it becomes symmetrical, and imagining what the image might be). I passed with flying colors, as my reading said I was “highly capable, to put it mildly…you master everything you turn your hand to…” I guess some of these psychotic tests really do work! – Carla Sinclair

DHARMA DELIGHT: A VISIONARY POST POP GUIDE TO BUDDHISM AND ZEN

Dharma Delight: A Visionary Post Pop Guide to Buddhism and Zen
by Rodney Alan Greenblat
Tuttle Publishing
2016, 128 pages, 7.5 x 10 x 0.5 inches (softcover)

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Peace of mind can be a hard-won trophy in the best of times. Other times, well, simply being may be the best we can do. Dharma Delight is a visual diary of one man’s journey into Buddhism. Author Greenblat takes the reader through the basic aspects of Buddhism, including its founding, its core tenets, a few of the more prominent teachers (er, Buddhas, not instructors), and a few basic zen practices all accompanied by his own bright, bold paintings and drawings.

The book is somewhat slight, more of a primer than an in-depth examination of any one part of either Buddhism or Greenblat’s relationship to it, but I found this to be the most engaging facet of the book. What I mean is, the book often lays out a single concept or story or koan on one or two pages, letting the reader focus on the idea being presented rather than stuffing loads of concepts and history into a confined space.

By allowing the content so much room to breathe, each painting or set of paintings comes into clear relief. Greenblat squeezes lots of detail and tiny, almost hidden prose messages into each vibrant piece of art; his style is a distinct form of pop art, somewhere between the neon, day-glo of the 1980s and the comic book reproductions of Lichtenstein. Yet, for all the bright color and heady concepts, this book has found a permanent home on my bedside bookshelf. Its light touch and beatific illustrations help me find just enough peace of mind to get to sleep. Which is a small delight for which I am grateful. – Joel Neff

Books That Belong On Paper first appeared on the web as Wink Books and was edited by Carla Sinclair. Sign up here to get the issues a week early in your inbox.