Here are two new and worthy books for beginning psychoanalysts. Both Sheldon Bach and Vamik Volkan speak personally to their readers and come through as generous, supportive mentors to those trying to develop as analysts. Both authors assert the value of a psychoanalytic approach to a wide range of patients. Both offer wisdom that can only come from decades in the clinical trenches, and both provide vivid case material illustrating the topics they address. Finally, both have integrated concepts from several psychoanalytic orientations; neither claims to be the representative of a particular school.

In many ways, however, these books could not be more different: Bach's How-To Book is a deliberately small, slim paperback, while Volkan's 8.5 inches by 11.5 inches volume runs to over 300 pages. More substantially, the two authors have contrasting approaches to orienting newcomers to the field. Bach tends to summarize across clinical contexts, and his chapters, in conformance with his book's title, all have general ‘how-to’ headings (‘How