Victor Tausk's Suicide: By K. R. Eissler. New York: International Universities Press. 1983. Pp. 322.

Dr Eissler's work, Victor Tausk's Suicide continues the author's investigation of the life, work and death of Victor Tausk, an exceptionally gifted psychoanalyst who committed suicide in 1919. The current revival of interest in Victor Tausk's life and in his work as a psychoanalytic pioneer began with the

publication of Paul Roazen's book entitled, Brother Animal: the Story of Tausk and Freud, in 1969. Roazen set out, 'to restore to the public's attention the figure of Victor Tausk' (Roazen, 1972). In spite of the controversy that surrounds his book, or perhaps in part because of it, he has succeeded. In response to Brother Animal Eissler wrote his first book about Tausk in 1971. Talent and Genius: The Fictitious Case of Tausk Contra Freud contains a detailed rebuttal of Roazen's claim that Freud himself bore some responsibility for Tausk's suicide.

There is something about Tausk's life and death that intrigues us today, even after 70 years. This fascination with the man who followed 'the direction of his tormented mind' seems to go beyond both his larger historical significance and his more limited role as a pioneering psychoanalyst. Unfortunately, I believe that some of the controversy, the 'fictitious' case of Freud versus Tausk, has tended to obscure the man himself and to prevent a careful, analytically informed reassessment of Tausk's contributions. Kanzer has to some extent redressed the balance, as have others (Kanzer, 1971), (1972), (1973) ; (Neumarkt, 1973), (1977). In addition, there have been valuable commentaries by Tausk's oldest son Marius, including an appendix to this book (Tausk, 1973).

In the introduction, Eissler lays out for the reader his reasons for devoting another volume to Tausk, a man whose 'position in the history of science was a minor one' (p. 1). He cites three passages from Roazen's book which, when considered together, indict Freud as responsible for Tausk's suicide.