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This text deals in part with media articles: abductions by aliens and satanic ritual abuse. It investigates the functions of such imaginings, and covers issues such as: defining imagining, believing and remembering; developmental issues; interpersonal processes; and sociohistorical phenonema.

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CHOICE Review

These essays turn on the editors' notion of "believed-in imaginings"--the belief in the veracity of events that most consider illusions or hallucinations--a concept of interest to literary theorists and philosophers as well as clinical psychologists and psychiatrists, social workers, and legal authorities. Framing a "poetic" way of talking about how individuals come to construct what they believe about the world and their relation to it, Sarbin (a psychologist) suggests a theory connecting narrative and emotional life. The illuminating papers respond to Sarbin in a variety of ways: some theorists offer criticism influenced by postmodern controversies about the foundations of truth, but most of the papers focus on contemporary syndromes (e.g., "survivors" of possible childhood sexual abuse or imagined abduction by aliens and those with multiple personality disorders). The contributors engage these pressing psychological issues from perspectives as diverse as feminist theory, psychoanalysis, and psychiatric nosology. The most recurrent theme is that mental illness is a historical construct. The writing is sophisticated, aims at a professional audience, but in general remains remarkably free from jargon. The book is accessible to all literate readers, upper-division undergraduate and above. This reviewer plans to use an essay on emotion and catharsis for a seminar on literary theory involving both Aristotle and Freud. A. Thiher; University of Missouri--Columbia