Reading Bion alone, or, at any rate, reading his more theoretical texts alone (which I find to be the richest and most fascinating), is very hard work. I have always found myself reading and discussing these texts in a group. Every re-reading has opened up new horizons and new thoughts.

I believe it is possible to read and to savour these seminars on one's own and to be moved by them in a meaningful way. Reading them is like having the experience of seeing things from a perspective which was previously unthinkable. If I had to give some advice on how to approach Bion, it would be to start with the Clinical seminars (1987), which are a kind of ‘work-out’. They provide practice with Bion's language, style and complexity, forming a sort of launch-pad from which to leap