The Psychology of Superheroes: An Unauthorized Exploration

author: Robin S. Rosenberg
name: Wayne
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2016/12/16
date added: 2016/12/16
shelves: non-fiction
review:
'The Psychology of Superheroes: An Unauthorized Exploration' by editor Robin S. Rosenberg, PhD, with a whole bunch of contributors was a fun read. There are almost two dozen psychologists contributing, so the opinions and essays are well informed.

There are discussions of the social psychology of the Justice League of America, how Peter Parker can maintain such a cheery attitude, and lessons about prejudice from the X-Men. Also discussed are the real possibilities that we could be superheroes ourselves with examples of people around us who seem to be. The darker side of heroes and villains are covered with a nice sliding scale of good and evil heroes, where you can see how Batman and Punisher stack up on the anti-hero scale. My favorite essay was about Arkham Asylum from a forensic psychologist perspective.

I've read a few different types of these books, but I liked the psychological aspect of this. It seemed like a fun aspect for the writers, and they took their subjects seriously. I don't know what liking superheroes says about us, but it's kind of fun to see them discussed like this.

I received a review copy of this ebook from BenBella Books, Smart Pop, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.


via Wayne's bookshelf: read http://ift.tt/2gVeUHs