William Phillips, the editor of Art and Psychoanalysis, describes his anthology as a collection of outstanding contributions to applied analysis in art. He divides his selections into three groups: analytic studies of single works of art or artists; a group of theoretical essays; and, finally, some literary pieces.

Part One opens with a reprint of Freud's Dostoevsky and Parricide. Other selections are Marie Bonaparte's Poe and the Function of Literature (a chapter from her book on Poe); Saul Rosenzweig's analytic interpretation of The Ghost of Henry James; a short piece on Jonathan Swift by Phyllis Greenacre; Erich Fromm's excellent essay on Franz Kafka; and Ernest Jones's recently published paper, The Death of Hamlet's Father. Theodor Reik's The Three Women