On the Couch: Writers Analyze Sigmund Freud. Edited by Andrew Blauner. Princeton, NJ:  Princeton University Press, 2024,  360 pp., $29.95 hardcover.

Idealization of Freud has dominated much of the history of psychoanalysis, although the intensity has certainly dimmed over time. Devaluation of Freud has often characterized external reactions to his work, especially in the field of psychology. So, where do things stand now? Between the extremes of adulation and condemnation, a new option emerges that welcomes multiple perspectives, and, more pointedly, embraces Freud ambivalently.

On the Couch, edited by Andrew Blauner, aspires to offer fresh assessments of Freud, and many of the essays contained in the volume attempt to cultivate an ambivalent stance. Blauner's stated intention for the book is to invite a wide range of writers “to analyze the great analyst” (p. ix). Blauner is a literary agent and editor of several books on diverse topics; he does not reveal much about his interest in psychoanalysis. He does inform us, though, that he “wanted to help get and share a better understanding of the person who has helped us understand ourselves perhaps more than anyone in history” (p. xi).

Rather than trying to cover each of the essays, I want to explore some of the main themes across the 25 essays contained in the volume, and then to return to the idea of working through ambivalence. Several essays take up Freud's character (like Rivka Galchen on his relationship to dogs) and legacy (Sarah Boxer, Susie Orbach, Peter Kramer, Sherry Turkle, Adam Gopnik, and Siri Hustvedt) as well as his family relations (Casey Schwartz on Anna Freud; Daphne Merkin on Martha Freud; and Suzy Boyt and

Esther Freud, daughters of Lucien Freud, and great-granddaughters of Sigmund Freud, on family history). Boyt's essay is about feeling the presence of ghosts during a sleepover at 20 Maresfield Gardens, and i