Shadow in the USA

We all know that alarming amounts of animosity exist, particularly in election years. Finger-pointing, name-calling, doublethink, newspeak, tsunamis of mis-information swamp all serious political thought. We seem to have taken an awkward turn. Rather than using our intelligence to correct whatever we don't like, we just use our intelligence to blame whatever we don't like on someone else. We can all see the mote in our brother’s eye, but none of us can see the beam in our own. At personal levels (Me against You), state levels (Red State versus Blue State), and national levels (Our Perpetual War on Someone), failure to understand the human shadow’s cycle of denial-projection-blame causes catastrophic problems.

With our destructive power outstripping our consciousness, understanding the human shadow has become absolutely imperative. As Carl Jung wrote, "Failure to do so will lead to the extinction of the human race." Or as Albert Einstein put it, "We need an essentially new way of thinking if mankind is to survive."

This conversational yet hard-hitting, humorous yet harrowing little book pulls the human shadow—confined until now to psychology texts—out of the darkness and into the light. Plumb uses illustrations by the fantasy master Bob Hobbs, a re-telling of "Beauty and the Beast" and serious psychological commentary to visually as well as verbally illuminate the dark side of human nature.

"Shadow in the USA" will provide readers with a better understanding of their chaotic world, and tools for living more humanely in it.

REVIEWERS’ CHOICE, Small Press Bookwatch, October 2011 “There is a darkness in all of us, and how we deal with it is what determines our future, on a personal as well as a societal level. “Shadow in the USA” is a discussion of human nature and philosophy when humanity’s power to hurt itself has run amuck. With honesty and knowledge, “Shadow in the USA” presents plenty to ponder and makes for a very much recommended reading.” –James A. Cox, Midwest Book Review

"HATS OFF to you for doing a wonderful job of making a distasteful subject so entertaining."-Katherine M. Sanford, MA, Analytical Psychologist, lecturer, painter and author of "The Serpent and the Cross"

"WHILE RETELLING ‘BEAUTY AND THE BEAST,’ Plumb leads us into depths which invite introspection regarding the "beast" within each of us, and the "beast" within our culture. This book obliges the reader to look at ordinary life through a sharpened lens, and see that, beneath the surface of daily events, deeper and darker energies are spilling into our lives."-James Hollis, PhD, Analytical psychologist, Director of Jungian Studies at Saybrook University, author of "Why Good People Do Bad Things”

“THIS IS A POWERFUL LITTLE BOOK—a gem whose facets gleam with insights into our shared American identity. It is also a dangerous little book. Plumb strips away our God-given moral superiority to expose the emptiness of contemporary American life. Why read this book? Because somehow it also manages to be delightful: a powerfully written, exquisitely illustrated tale of profound psychological importance. The first of its kind, as far as I know. And because the true potential of the USA, as well as the true potential of individual freedom, can only continue to evolve if we dare to look into such mirrors."-Robert Tompkins, PhD, MFT, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, Marriage and Family Counselor.

“I LIKE YOUR ENTHUSIASM for the shadow.”-Robert Bly, poet, storyteller, troublemaker, author of “A Little Book on the Human Shadow”