cover image Bodywork

Bodywork

Thomas Claire. William Morrow & Company, $25 (440pp) ISBN 978-0-688-12581-3

``Bodywork,'' a holistic therapy that involves touch, ``has only recently come to mean something other than auto repair,'' notes Claire, a New York massage therapist at the start of his exhaustive guide to the myriad massage therapies available today. Following a user-friendly design, the book is divided into six parts, the first five of which group profiles of related bodywork practices. Swedish massage and its variants make up the first section, for example, while shiatsu gets a chapter in ``Asian Bodywork'' and craniosacral therapy is taken up in ``Energetic Bodywork.'' After detailing the background, theory and practice of each modality, Claire presents firsthand impressions of a therapy session. Though unquestionably informative, these sections are marked by Claire's heavy-moving, earnest prose and extensive self-awareness: ``I must be developing inner structural clarity,'' he observes while opening a jar after being rolfed. The last section, ``Supplemental Information: Simple Tools,'' which features extensive lists of resources for further information, a glossary, bibliography, notes and index, rounds out this useful guide. (Aug.)