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This is Salman Akhtar's fifth book. In his bibliography, he cites twentytwo papers he has written and nine others written with coauthors. These
occupy two pages of a 32-page list of references, covering a wide range of psychoanalytic, psychiatric, and cultural (especially poetic) interests. The book consists of ten articles, four previously published in psychoanalytic journals, three in psychoanalytic or psychiatric books, and three not previously published. The book is organized into five parts of two papers each, all dealing with problems that have caught Akhtar's interest and that he feels have received too little attention. Under the rubric unexplored problems are chapters on mental pain and on writer's block; under unrecognized personalities, “The Shy Narcissist” and “The Other Woman”; under uncelebrated partners, chapters on animals and on things; under unfamiliar processes, chapters on dynamic and developmental process; and under untapped potentials, chapters on mentorship and on forgiveness. All are psychoanalytically informed, though some are more psychiatric than psychoanalytic in style.
These essays are the products of Akhtar's serious scholarship, thought, and hard work on some difficult topics. His wide-ranging knowledge and exploration of the literature relating to these topics, from Freud to the current views of diverse theorists and clinicians—with an accent on developmental aspects and cultural factors, including poetry and the dislocation of immigration—give his work its particular tone.
In his preface, Akhtar presents an excellent brief account of each chapter; I will not review all of them. In several of these essays, notably “Writer's Block,” “The Shy Narcissist,” “Animals,” and “Forgiveness,” Akhtar reviews the literature, adds his own perspective, and discusses the subject's various clinical manifestations. Analysts interested in the subject will find considerable material to further their understanding. The chapter on the other woman is base