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This book is a collection of papers by the eminent New York psychoanalyst and past president of the American Psychoanalytic Association, Dr. Jacob A. Arlow. There is no preface and no explanation of the criteria used to either include or exclude Dr. Arlow's contributions to this volume. Some of the papers have been published, as one can decipher by turning to the references at the end of the book, but if a paper was presented as a speech no indication is given as to where it was delivered or whether or not it was published. Furthermore, although the last paper in the book is dated 1987, some of Arlow's best publications are left out. Two of my favorites (Arlow, 1985a, 1985b) represent important advances in Arlow's thinking. Of course Arlow has continued to publish interesting and important work, such as his (1991a) recent contribution on “Methodology and Reconstruction.” I cannot understand why some of Arlow's papers were left out of this book and why the book was published when it was rather than, for example, waiting until Dr. Arlow had retired so that the psychoanalytic reader would have a reasonably complete collection of his outstanding work. I can only assume that the book will gain from a second edition in the future, or that a sequel volume is planned.
Those who are not familiar with Arlow's contributions might be better served by turning first to a fine series of essays in honor of his work (Blum et al., 1988), which also serves as an introduction to his thought. Especially important in this latter reference is Chapter 2, the outstanding review of Arlow's thinking by