Although it may not be readily apparent, this is a significantly flawed book. Cushman's central project, which in itself cannot be faulted, is to delineate “the configuration of the self of our time, the masterful, bounded, empty self” (p. 281), and to illuminate the ways in which mainstream psychotherapists contribute to the construction and maintenance of that self. Cushman prepares the ground by contextualizing psychotherapy, situating it “in the history and culture of its time and place” (p. 3), looking at each era in terms of its “predominant configuration of the self[,]…[the] characteristic illnesses, local healers, and local healing technologies” (p. 3).

Cushman claims that his book is novel and revolutionary. The very first words are: “This strange, unorthodox book…” (p. xi); later, he says that most readers will find his thesis “that