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Though the word 'guide' may be defined in one sense as 'mark or tab to catch the eye and thus provide quick reference', it also has several other meanings. It is to accompany, show the way, supply counsel, advise, or enforce (a person or object) to move in a certain path. Peter Giovacchini's A Clinician's Guide to Reading Freud tries to do all of these things. Having read Freud completely in both English and German, Giovacchini has written this book because he feels that any serious student should know Freud and understand the developmental sequences and historical context of his ideas. He describes his guide as a systematic though not necessarily chronological approach to the understanding of Freud's work. His goal is to trace the evolution of psychoanalytic principles, especially the instinct theory, and to compare Freud's ideas to 'current' ideas as a way of determining which of Freud's concepts are 'relevant'. However, both in the introduction and throughout this volume, it is not clear what part of Freud's metapsychology comprises 'early' theory, nor what criteria are employed in defining 'modern' theory. Nevertheless, Giovacchini offers the following analogy, 'comparing ego psychology or structural psychology to Freudian psychology is comparable to the comparison of quantum or relativity theory to Newtonian mechanics'. Here, the implication is that 'ego psychology' and 'structural psychology' are not part of Freudian psychology. This bold assertion raises many questions beyond the scope of this guide to selected readings from Freud.
The basic structure of the book is that for each of the ten selections from Freud there is a brief synopsis followed by a more lengthy explication. We are told that this work is a summary of ideas that came forth from the discussions of a seminar group studying the writings of Freud. It is not mentioned who the participants were, nor when these discussions took place, but he does inform the reader that each session of thi