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Ullman, M., M.D. and Zimmerman, N. Working with Dreams. New York: Delacorte Press, 1979.
IT IS WITH GREAT PLEASURE that I commend this book by Monty Ullman, and his co-author, Nan Zimmerman. It is a refreshingly clear and readable book, readily understood by the average person with none of the jargon that has characterized and obscured so much in this area.
I have participated in a professional group workshop with Monty for many years, and more recently in a lay group meeting that is well captured by this book.
He begins with the common questions that have been asked of psychoanalysts over and over again, particularly by lay people. However, the questions, along with the responses expressed in very simple language, manifest a high degree of expert knowledge. His purpose is to inform the community of this knowledge, and encourage "non-experts" to develop skill and pleasure in the use of and the sharing of dreams.
His second chapter on the history of the use of dreams repeats some of what has been said in the many previous histories and adds a great deal that is fresh and enlivening.
His brief chapter on Freud's approach to the use of the dream expresses his deep respect for Freud's important contribution as one among many. He also briefly does justice to Jung's important work and presents a neat little table summarizing three approaches—Freud's, Jung's and Ullmann's.
He presents the laboratory research on sleep that is least technical and most relevant to a popular understanding with no pretense at an authoritative summary. However, it is nonetheless reflective of his thorough familiarity with the research data. His use of diagrams make this even more readily available.