Michael Fitzgerald (psychiatry, Trinity College, Ireland) offers information on both the positive and negative aspects of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and looks at a possible
link between the disorder and creativity. In a lengthy first chapter, he provides a wide-ranging overview of what is known about novelty and other factors in creativity, drawing on work in
psychology, cognitive science, and the history of science, and touching on risk and sensation seeking, identity and exploration, creativity and the unconscious, the role of neurochemicals and
hormones in creativity, creativity in Asperger's syndrome and high functioning autism, and the roots of creativity in evolution and molecular genetics. In the rest of the book, he looks at the
lives, influences, and creative output of famous people with traits of ADHD, including Oscar Wilde, Saint Augustine, Kurt Cobain, Thomas Edison, and Che Guevara. Annotation 穢2009 Book News,
Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
