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An Object-Relations Theory of the Personality, by W. Ronald D. Fairbairn. New York: Basic Books, 1954, 312 Pp., $5.00.
A collection of papers with a brief preface by Ernest Jones. Most of the articles were previously published in British medical journals and in the International Journal of Psycho-Analysis. The major portion of the book, consisting of seven papers, attempts a reformulation of the libido theory and of Abraham's "phase" theory of ego development; the author's formulation is presented in terms of the ego's relationship with objects, particularly those "internalized during early life." Three papers are devoted to clinical problems. The final section contains miscellaneous papers originally intended for nonpsychoanalytic audiences, including a paper on sexual offenders and a discussion of the sociology of communism.
AN OUTLINE OF A COMPARATIVE PATHOLOGY OF THE NEUROSES, BY Ludwig Eidelberg. New York: International Universities Press, 1954, 264 pp., $4.50.
Addressed to advanced students of psychoanalysis, this book presents a condensation of classic psychoanalytic theory and practice, with certain addenda and modifications by the author within this framework, together with a comparative, "quantitative" approach to neurotic symptoms, character traits and perversions. In this quantitative appraisal, the relative intensity of libidinal and aggressive drives are assayed for each type of clinical phenomenon. The question of tolerance toward unpleasure in neurotics, and its implications in therapy are discussed. The quantitative approach is also a focus of the discussion on libidinal types. A detailed description of various attitudes of the total personality to the pathological end results of defense mechanisms is presented, together with an attempt to assay the quantitative factors involved in terms of the intensity of the unpleasure caused by the narcissistic mortifications involved. The choice of neurosis is discussed from the standpoint of Freud's co