Showing results by author "Benjamin Taylor" in All Categories

Marcel Proust came into his own as a novelist comparatively late in life, yet only Shakespeare, Balzac, Dickens, Tolstoy, and Dostoyevsky were his equals when it came to creating characters as memorably human. As biographer Benjamin Taylor suggests, Proust was a literary lightweight before writing his multivolume masterwork In Search of Lost Time, but following a series of momentous historical and personal events, he became—against all expectations—one of the greatest writers of his, and indeed any, era.

There are things you want to buy but cannot afford. There are payments that are subconsciously stressing you out every month. Rent, mortgage, utilities, phone bills, streaming services, insurance, taxes, and the list goes on! You find yourself thinking about how much of your paycheck is left after paying for all these things? Do you even have enough left over to save for that trip you’ve always dreamed of, or that house you want to buy, or for your retirement fund? Don’t panic, it's not an irreversible situation.

It is a city of seemingly irreconcilable opposites, simultaneously glorious and ghastly. And it is Ben Taylor’s remarkable ability to meld these contradictions into a whole that makes this the exciting and original book it is. He takes his stroll around the bay with the acute sensitivity of a lover, the good humor of a friend, and the wisdom of a seeker who has immersed himself in all aspects of this contrapuntal culture. His curiosity leads him to many byways, both real and metaphoric, and his passion for this ancient city and its people becomes, in his graceful prose and amusing anecdotes, irresistibly contagious.

No matter what age you are, you must have experienced sleepless nights. This can be due to stress such as academic stress that most teenagers and young adults experience. The stress of an exam or a presentation the next day might have kept you tossing and turning all night. It could be that newborn babies are interrupting your sleep in the middle of the night, and you can’t fall back to sleep. It could be job-related like meeting a big client tomorrow or a big meeting with your boss. It could be anything!

After John F. Kennedy's speech in front of the Hotel Texas in Fort Worth on November 22, 1963, he was greeted by, among others, an 11-year-old Benjamin Taylor and his mother waiting to shake his hand. Only a few hours later, Taylor's teacher called the class in from recess and, through tears, told them of the president's assassination. From there Taylor traces a path through the next 12 months, recalling the tumult as he saw everything he had once considered stable begin to grow more complex.

"Chemical Bliss" delves into the pivotal roles of dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins in shaping our emotions, behaviors, and relationships. This insightful book explores how dopamine drives pleasure and motivation, oxytocin fosters social bonding and trust, serotonin regulates mood and cognitive functions, and endorphins provide natural pain relief and mood enhancement.