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In this book Grinstein extends the methodology he used in his earlier work, On Sigmund Freud's Dreams.1 The present work is a clinical book that reads like a psychoanalysis. As Grinstein states in his Introduction, he utilizes "a fundamental tenet of psychoanalysis: the principle of strict psychic determinism, that all associations are meaningful" (p. 3).
The subject of the analysis is Freud, between the years 1892 and 1906. Grinstein defines these years as "the crossroads" for several reasons. During this period, Freud was in the midst of his self-analysis and therefore in the most intense throes of his relationship with Fliess. In addition, during this time Freud discovered the importance of infantile fantasy and abandoned the seduction hypothesis as his unitary theory of neurosis.
Although Grinstein states that it is not his intention to analyze Freud, it is the very fact that Freud's associations are dealt with analytically that makes this biography so fascinating. The book focuses on seven of Freud's dreams, four literary references that Freud made in letters to Fliess, and ten "good" books which Freud listed in response to a questionnaire by Hugo Heller.
The book is arranged chronologically. Chapter One, "Read, My Dear Couple …," begins with a brief history of Freud's relationship