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Louis DeSalvo. Writing as a Way of Healing. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1999. $22-00
Louise DeSalvo's book, Writing as a Way of Healing tackles two topics not necessarily thought of as complementary - writing and healing - doing so in a manner that is both analytical and reflective. Her subtitle, "How Telling Our Stories Transforms Our Lives," provides a more precise focus for her topic, indicating its suitability and probable appeal to a fairly wide readership.
Given its complexity, the topic - writing as connected to heating - needs to be approached from a number of directions. It demands a kind of "circling around," some might say, a breaking down into its constituent parts; but that's not it. Healing writing is not only a product but a process as well. The book, therefore, is process envisioned and somehow articulated - not an easy thing to do.
Ms. DeSalvo draws on a considerable background as both writer and teacher of writing in formulating and executing her study. She does so in a threefold manner which takes the topic quite logically through the stages of introduction...