This book is a laudable attempt to integrate psychoanalytic metapsychology with modern neurobiological research. Stern was a member of a small group of clinicians attempting to actualize Freud's wishes for a solid neurobiological foundation for psychoanalysis. I applaud his efforts and see this document as a tentative initial statement indicating areas for much research. His work suggests that the psychoanalytic community should engage in more integrative theorizing of this kind rather than sit in their inbred ivory towers continuing to damage the general credibility of psychoanalysis in the eyes of other medical professionals.

The book suffers from posthumous publication and would have benefited from some more work by the author himself, although we can be grateful for the creditable effort exerted by his wife. Many of the ideas are not fully developed, and most of them are