Debut author Mariana Alessandri makes a compelling, philosophically sound case for finding "dignity" and strength in the discomforting emotions that are a natural part of the human condition in Night Vision: Seeing Ourselves Through Dark Moods. Instead of silencing, stifling, or feeling embarrassed by our anger, sadness, grief, depression, and anxiety, Alessandri and her favorite existentialist philosophers, including Gloria Anzaldúa and Miguel de Unamuno, encourage readers to cultivate greater self-knowledge and forge deeper connections with loved ones through the expression of our dark moods. Alessandri, an associate professor of philosophy at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, rebuts ancient Western philosophical theories that declare that light, emotional and otherwise, is "holier than dark" and that darkness is to be feared. Under the "fluorescent lights of psychiatry," depression and anxiety are classified as mental illnesses or disorders, while the self-help industry, in trying to sell us a brighter future, makes us feel ashamed that we are not happier.
What if, proposes the author, instead of viewing anger as a character flaw that makes us ugly, we interrogate the source of the emotion, and let it work productively for us? Alessandri follows the examples of Audre Lorde and María Lugones in successfully deploying the energy behind her own pandemic lockdown anger towards solutions for juggling work and self-care while homeschooling her children. Through insightful observations of temperaments at the dark end of the emotional spectrum, Night Vision reminds readers that our humanity is only truly visible in the dark and that the darkness is where we emotionally grow. --Shahina Piyarali, reviewer