Author Spotlight: Jay Slosar and The Culture of Excess

In the wake of buckling markets, banks knocked to their knees, and massive amounts of presumed wealth revealed as the product of self-deception and breathtaking criminality, an age of indulgence has dramatically impacted American life. Economically, we understand how it happened, but why it happened is more of a mystery. What psychological factors fueled the years of excess and, more important, how do we refocus ourselves for a more rational, self-controlled future?

As J.R. Slosar shows in this urgent, sometimes startling volume, the nation’s fast-and-loose approach to money was, in fact, a symptom of a more widespread pattern of excessive behavior. In The Culture of Excess: How America Lost Self-Control and Why We Need to Redefine Success, Slosar portrays an America where the drive to succeed and the fear of missing out manifested itself not only in self-entitled corporate fraud, but in everything from sharp rises in obesity and cosmetic medical procedures to equally troubling increases in eating disorders, panic attacks, and outbreaks of uncontrollable rage.

Illustrating its thesis with numerous vignettes and case studies, The Culture of Excess is the first book to assess the impact of economic and social factors on the nation’s psychological well-being. It shows how capitalism, technology, and media interact and become additive factors in the loss of self-control, and it explains how the compromises made in adapting to intense economic competition lead to a false sense of self and reality. Narcissism, productive narcissism, psychopathy, rigidity and self destruction, perfectionism, the illusion of success, and identity achievement all come into play as Slosar diagnoses the psychological drivers behind this indulgent age, offering his prescription for helping “Generation Me” become “Generation We.”

Read the Reviews!

“Jay Slosar gives us the benefit of his years of clinical and teaching experiences with people who reveal just how firmly we live in an age of excess. Wonderfully written, The Culture of Excess not only discusses how we got to this point, but offers insights on how to change course. Individuals, parents, decision-makers, and others will come to see how we might turn ‘Generation Me’ into ‘Generation We,’ and create a better world in the process. This is an important book.”

Elizabeth Loftus, PhD

Distinguished Professor, University of California-Irvine

Past President, Association for Psychological Science

“Dr. Slosar offers an in-depth psychological analysis and understanding of the forces shaping our popular culture. He reaches the troubling conclusion that we are in an age that applauds excessive self absorption and devalues a community spirit. His insight into the psychosocial conflicts that are unfolding in the 21st century breathes new meaning into that ancient, Talmudic query about the relationship between self and others: If I am not for myself, who is for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? This work is timely and wise.”

Richard Lettieri, PhD

Clinical and Forensic Psychologist

Training and Supervising Psychoanalyst, Newport Psychoanalytic Institute

Faculty, New Center for Psychoanalysis

Jay Slosar, Ph.D., is the author of a provocative new book The Culture of Excess: How Americans Lost Self-Control and Why We Need to Redefine Success (ABC-CLIO, LLC, November 2009). For the past quarter-century he has run a successful private practice as a licensed psychologist and has provided direct clinical and consulting services in a variety of diverse settings. Currently, Dr. Slosar is also an adjunct assistant professor at Chapman University in Orange County, California. He also provides forensic evaluations from court referrals, specializing in evaluating teenagers.



Dr. Slosar has worked and consulted for many companies and organizations, including: Health and Human Services Group, Young Life Enrichment Program, Family Solutions, Western Youth Services, Villa Millard Facility, and the Dawson Education Foundation. The services provided included: counseling, psychological evaluations, program design, staff training, and conflict resolution.

He also has served as the administrative clinician for a federal contract in the delivery of an employee assistance program for federal law enforcement employees and their families. Over six years, he was responsible for all clinical and administrative needs for an $8 million federal contract which included providing training/education workshops in the areas of stress management, trauma response, supervisory management, domestic violence, and workplace violence. He co-directed the critical incident response services for operational and non-operational traumas. He has completed certification in critical incident response training from the American Red Cross and the National Organization for Victim’s Assistance.

Dr. Slosar has written and published professional materials and articles, including a staff training manual for residential treatment services. He has also presented a paper at the FBI Quantico training facility on perfectionism and its relationship to suicide in law enforcement personnel.

Since 1985 he has taught in both the psychology department and the health services department at Chapman University as an adjunct assistant associate professor.

He was the president of the Orange County Psychological Association in 2004 and is a past board member of the California Coalition of Ethical Mental Health Care, a San Francisco-based group that promotes the ethics and integrity of mental health-care delivery services. Dr. Slosar was on the board of directors for the California Psychological Association in 2006 and 2007. He is also a Board Member of the California Association of Psychology Providers (CAPP).

Dr. Slosar received his Ph.D. from the University of Southern California, earned his Master’s Degree from Wichita State University, and received his Bachelor’s Degree from Jacksonville University. He resides in Newport Beach, California. For more information, please consult www.cultureofexcess.com.

Silk Flowers Never Die by Stella Mazzucchelli

Silk Flowers Never Die is an important and intensely personal memoir, powerfully showing with humanity and humor, the difficulties that exist for any family trying to cope with schizophrenia and mental distress. In a compelling story that reveals how much stranger than fiction fact is, Stella Mazzucchelli describes her determination to preserve her son from the worst effects of mental illness, while his young wife is dying of cancer.

In the process of trying to rise to these challenges, Stella is transformed from a beautiful, over-protected Society woman with alcohol issues, to an impressive, courageous earth-mother who now campaigns to reduce the stigma attached to mental illness by using her privileged position to positive effect. This moving book is informative on a host of subjects, ranging from the lifestyle of the International Super-Rich to the profundities of facing terminal illness and mental disease. Due to its intelligence, insight, and compassion the appeal of this amazing story and struggle should be universal.

Sharing My Story by Stella Mazzucchelli

The advantages and challenges of sharing my story are that I am dealing with emotions and weaknesses that are wide spread such as mental illness, cancer and alcohol abuse.

My book has given me the thumbs up to reveal to the world that my son has schizophrenia without beating around the bush when asked 'What does your son do for a living?' Like a race horse bursting through the starting gate I now feel free to pronounce the word schizophrenia without hesitation. I almost have to refrain a smile while waiting a reaction which usually is hidden shock, followed by admiration for my honesty and then curiosity.

The first question I am asked by those who are fortunate enough not to have had first hand experience, is 'What are the symptoms?' They obviously have no idea except what they have heard through the media which is very likely to do with some massacre or other. Being their only source of information, they live with the impression that all schizophrenics might rip there throat at the drop of a hat. The words come gushing out as I preach a condensed lecture on the subject, not stopping until I have managed to wipe away the fear and witness an expression of compassion on their faces. I can assure you that it is not an easy task to undo the image of violence so ingrained in their vision and reassure them that most people who are suffering from mental issues are very talented and sensitive human beings.The only problem of course is that due to the 'stigma' we rarely hear about them, they are forced into a dark corner, silenced and alone.

The people who have lived with a loved one who is a sufferer, I always detect a sigh of relief as though a burden has lifted because they can open up and discuss their experience without having to whisper.

Alcohol dominated my life for many years. It caused me to make mistakes and choices that cause my hair to stand on end just recalling them. Through my writing I wanted to reach out to those people who feel that without the aid of this mind degenerating substance they are unable to confront life. I wanted them to realize that life without alcohol is possible. There is strength in each of us which might be buried so profoundly beneath layers of insecurity that we flap around like blind people ignoring its existence. If we just took time to stand still and search within ourselves we might grasp the root of our torment and crippled ego. Only then, can we start to raise our head and begin to move forward in a positive direction. We have to leave behind the role of 'victim' and start a new one, take off the tinted glasses and see the world for what it is, because it can be very beautiful if we only gave it a chance.
Cancer is a very difficult subject to offer any sort of comfort or advice. It has become even more scary as it no longer only targets the elderly, but is hitting the younger generation without mercy. We do our best to eat healthy, exercise and avoid all cancer-provoking substances and yet I was told by my Practitioner that the number one killer is 'stress'. Can we live without stress? I made a point of treating small problems with the minimum of anxiety and the larger ones with a cool mind avoiding unnecessary panic. Not an easy task, but we can only try.

Stella Metaxa Mazzucchelli was born in Athens, Greece and married, aged eighteen, Riccardo Mazzucchelli, the famous Italian businessman. During their twenty-two year marriage, they lived in Zambia and London, where she became a well-known figure on the social scene, and had a brief and successful modeling career at the unusual age of 28. Fedele is their only child. After their divorce, Riccardo married Ivana Trump in 1995, though the marriage was short lived. Stella now lives in Athens where she brings up her granddaughter Katerina. As well as being involved in the property and renovation business, which ensures she maintains connections with London, she is also a tireless campaigner for the better understanding of schizophrenia and mental illness. Silk Flowers Never Die is her first book.

You can find Stella online at www.dynastypress.co.uk and at her blog www.dynastypress.co.uk/news.html.

Daughter of Narcissus by Lady Colin Campbell

Daughter of Narcissus: A Family's Struggle to Survive Their Mother's Narcissistic Personality Disorder is a stunning analysis by Lady Colin of her own dysfunctional family positioned at the heart of upper class Jamaican society from the middle of the 20th century to the present day. Covering the end of the British Colonial Age and the rise of a liberated generation, whilst addressing the narcissistic personality of her mother, the author brilliantly interconnects the sociological, political and personal. As she dissects the family dynamics lying beneath the appearance of wealth and power, Lady Colin’s understanding of personality disorder is revelatory: compelling the reader to comprehend the destructive and tragic reality concealed by rational language and behavior.

Set against a backdrop of glamour, wealth and fame, this compulsive book is both a fascinating history of one socially prominent family, and a uniquely detailed analysis of narcissism, its manifestations and how to survive them in order to lead a purposeful and affirming life.

'A tremendous accomplishment and a great self help book. A gripping well conceived and informed account of emotional terrorism which will illuminate a widespread but often misunderstood disorder.' Dr Anna Brocklebank MD


Lady Colin Campbell is a highly successful and prolific author of several books, including London and New York Times bestsellers, and has been a prominent and often controversial figure in royal and social circles for many years. She perhaps is best known for her international bestselling book Diana in Private, 1992, and her subsequent extended and revelatory biography of the Princess of Wales, The Real Diana published in 2004. She has written books on the Royal Family, been a long term columnist and appeared numerous times on TV and Radio as an experienced Royal Insider and expert on the British aristocracy. In 1997 she published her autobiography, A Life Worth Living, which was serialized in The Daily Mail. Born in St Andrew, Jamaica, she was educated there and in New York, where she lived for seven years. She is connected to British royalty through common ancestors and marriage. She has two sons and lives in London.


You can visit her publisher online at www.dynastypress.co.uk.

To see where Lady Colin Campbell stops next, visit http://virtualbooktours.wordpress.com/.