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This is an extremely exasperating book to read. There is a sense of something clinically important and relevant being described but it is disguised in a tortuous and wordy presentation which does it a considerable disservice. Nothing can be said without quoting someone else who said something similar. As the references draw on the whole field of literature and poetry, as well as psychoanalysis, they can be entertaining but ultimately side-tracking. To belabour the point about an excessive wordiness we also have to endure Acknowledgements, Fons et origo, Notation, Forward, Introduction and Prologue before starting the text.
The basic point being made (I think) concerns intuitive interpretations where the therapist uses his own free associations to the patient's material to make empathic contact. This is communicated to the patient via metaphor. The major strength of the book is in the clinical vignettes which provide beautiful examples of this process, especially with highly disturbed offender patients. At times, however, despite protestations to the contrary, one is left with a feeling that the prime qualification for a therapist is a capacity to recall verbatim the entire works of Shakespeare.
Perhaps my exasperation is predominantly based on envy: would that I were so cultured and knowledgeable as these authors. I suspect some people will find this book intoxicating and my criticism mealy-mouthed. My final conclusion is that