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Unlike Kohut's Mr. Z (1979), I find the opposite of dissembling in the portrayal of Dr. Z in Mike Eigen's Flames from the Unconscious. If Dr. Z is in fact based on a supervisee or patient, he and the other characters that are given voices by Eigen's hand possess a playfully transparent link to their author as opposed to the hidden Mr. Z. This seems altogether important. It is tempting in a world that could be labeled ‘postrelational turn-ish’ to speak of a manner in which times have changed. Yet, it is also possible to question the degree that such change is secured. Is it really safer to write so openly and personally? I hope so. If not, all the more reason for taking such risks. Although I do find thoughts of measuring the contemporary cultural difference in which Mr. Z and Dr. Z were born interesting, with no disrespect intended to Kohut, I wish to call attention to the manner in which Eigen self-consciously marks the terrain in which risk is taken. Such marking itself may afford a measure of climate change. Regardless, I think it is safe to say that like Kohut, Eigen is willing to take risks, albeit different ones, as a psychoanalytic writer. These risks pay off, and we are better off because of it.
Eigen's Dr. Z (2009, p. 114) asks, “Are poets suicide bombers? Are comedians?” When taken in the context of his writing, I find that such questioning points to other questions. Such as: how is it that psychological death occurs, how do we survive ourselves, and what may treatment afford in regard to the quality of survival? To that end, I want to answer Eigen not with associations to Kohut, but with Lawrence Ferlinghetti (2007): “The poet a subversive barbarian at the city gates, non-violently challenging the toxic status quo.”
Working with or challenging toxicity through poetry might be an important way to approach Eigen's clinically focused writing. Some (e.g., Jennings, 2010) have noted the manner in which he uses poetry and candor to describe the limits of our thou