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Like the other Epistles in this series, this work takes the form of an open letter which is also a reflection on the author's own trajectory. This Epistle to the Insane thus revolves around the themes of splitting, narcissism and the functions of the ego. By ‘insane’, Gérard Bayle means that which is capable of creating a ‘kind of contagiousness affecting the other’ and results in a loss of ‘the direction of meaning, of the senses and of common sense’ (p. 17) when the processes of symbolisation are undermined in one of the protagonists of the treatment. Apart from the metapsychological rigour and pertinence of the clinical illustrations, while reading the book one gets a good sense of the author's creativity and freedom of tone. He is a titular member of the Paris Psychoanalytic Society, a former co-director of the Revue francaise de psychanalyse and secretary for the Congress of French-speaking analysts. In addition, Gérard Bayle has written numerous psychoanalytical articles and books including Formation au psychodrame analytique (1988), ‘Les clivages et les défaillances de la fonction synthétique du Moi’ (1996) and Le trésor des phobies (1999). In the introduction, the author explains that the aim of his study is to reflect on the splitting of the ego (Freud, 1938) and the process of identifying this in treatment on the basis of the fluctuations in the analyst's sense of identity in the session or even between sessions. The author develops a fine and pertinent analysis of the countertransferential dimension of the relation of each practitioner to the theory, and to his own process of theorisation—the bedrock of his analytic identity. Both excessive complacency towards theoretical constructions, as well as the rejection of them, are signs of temporary splitting in the analyst's functioning. The perception, over time, of the gap between his usual functioning in analysis and this ‘other aspect of himself, which is full of certainty’ reveals failures of symbolisation