“Life is a state of affairs where your wishes do not come true” (p. 94) is the rather laconic statement made by Vesa Manninen in his book in which he ponders questions of psychoanalysis and humanity, questions that are ultimately unanswerable in life. Freud did not try to evade similar questions either, and Manninen uses Freud's works as a reflective surface for his own thoughts. I think Manninen also rightly criticizes Freud, though all the while trying to understand him and with high regard for his life's work. His style of writing is deceptively simple and lucid in its consideration of difficult subjects, such as the relationship between reality and illusion, parenthood