Joseph N. Abraham, M.D. came by writing as both a product of interest, and necessity.

"I started writing letters, and opinions," says Abraham. "But I wanted to go beyond that. I felt I had some different perspectives to share, about life, community, and the obligation of the educated. Those perspectives took more time to explain than a typical letter would allow. And in our modern world, we rarely have time to listen to extended ideas.

"We live in a world where we have largely lost much of our ability to communicate," he continues. "When we read Lord Jim today, we are amazed that the entire story is told without interruption, over a single night. Likewise, most people are totally unaware that the main speaker at the Gettysburg Dedication was not Abraham Lincoln, but Harvard President Edward Everett, who spoke for two hours, nonstop.

"Prior to the 20^th Century, listening to one person for several hours was not at all unusual, but it is almost unheard of today. And that colors everything about us: consider that, although Lincoln's words were great stuff, it is interesting that we remember the soundbite and not the main event. In our marketing-media world, we have lost the ability to follow ideas for sustained periods.

"The book is the last refuge of ideas. So I started writing."

That explains his interest in writing.

As for the necessity of writing, he laughs, "I didn't have many options. I wanted to focus on our work with public education, and you never think of it, but an M.D. isn't qualified to do much except practice medicine. After many years of medical training, I can't get a job as nurse!

"But a number of physicians have done well in the personal psychology market; and fortunately, after years of looking at my patients-- and myself-- I had come to some helpful ideas about how we mismanage our lives today. So I started writing a book."

The result of Dr. Abraham's "problem" was his Happiness: A Physician/Biologist Looks at Life.

And his problems in marketing it led to the creation of booksXYZ, and what you see here.