Helen Swick Perry, a declared, loyal admirer of Harry Stack Sullivan, is his ideal biographer. Not only has she done a thoroughgoing research job on the intricacies of Sullivan's life, but she also was his editor—even translator—over the greater part of his publishing years (including posthumously). It was she who over the years clarified as much as possible his eloquent but convoluted style.

She herself writes in a fine style which helps to carry the reader through her speculations on the early events of Sullivan's life. The bleak, remote geography and austere emotional environment of Sullivan's early years are poignantly portrayed. The writing, which