Dodi Goldman's In Search of the Real is a major contribution to Winnicott studies. Winnicott is a difficult, complicated, and enigmatic subject. Winnicott's personhood is known in general terms but its details are elusive, especially those having to do with the imbrication of his infancy, childhood, and adolescence. His concepts could be cryptic and puzzling but inventive and formative for contemporary object relations theory and clinical practice. Winnicott's style of writing is condensed and perplexing but also intriguingly distinct. Winnicott was the embodiment of paradox. Goldman's book is a valuable and coherent introduction to the study of Winnicott.

The title, In Search of the Real, captures Winnicott's quest to depict playfully, spontaneously, and creatively a person's search for a vivid, robust authenticity in the interaction between the demands of an inner life and the person's world of people. Goldman's book admirably gives shape to Winnicott's search. The