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Wish I Could Be There: Notes from a Phobic Life

$15.00
Author: Allen Shawn

Paperback:
Publisher: Penguin Books
ISBN 10: 0143113070
ISBN 13: 978-0143113072

Hardcover:
Publisher: Viking Adult
ISBN 10: 0670038423
ISBN 13: 978-0670038428

In addition to being the son of famous New Yorker editor William Shawn and brother of the distinguished playwright and actor Wallace Shawn, Allen Shawn is agoraphobic-he is afraid of both public spaces and isolation. Wish I Could Be There gracefully captures both of these extraordinary realities, blending memoir and scientific inquiry in an utterly engrossing quest to understand the mysteries of the human mind. Droll, probing, and honest, Shawn explores the many ways we all become who we are, whether through upbringing, genes, or our own choices, creating "an eloquent meditation upon the mysteries of personality and family"* and the struggle to face one's demons.