Adolescence is a disease, ordinarily self-limited and fortunately not contagious. Richard Armour offers a delightful "clinical" study of this disease. Witty and droll, the presentation exerts upon the reader a broad range of effects, from a gentle smile to a sage nod of the head, to a hearty belly laugh. The humor masks a penetrating insight into the heart and mind of the adolescent.
The separate chapters touch upon certain areas, attitudes, mores, and functions wherein the adolescent seems to belong to a race apart. Clothes, school, parties, cars, smoking, drinking, sex, represent some of the subjects discussed in the even-dozen chapters. Blended into the sparkling prose are numerous examples of the author's justly famous light verse.
The illustrations, which admirably catch the spirit of adolescence, complement the text and give that esthetic satisfaction we get when something seems "exactly right." I can heartily recommend this book to physicians whose