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This book is one of considerable substance, and to be highly recommended to anyone who regards himself as an ongoing student of the psychoanalytic perspective.
Written in honour of Leo Rangell, it comprises a collection of twenty-six chapters by leading analysts such as Charles Brenner, Robert S. Wallerstein, and Jacob A. Arlow principally from the United States, but also from Britain, including Adam Limentani, Pearl King, and Clifford Yorke.
Unlike many other books which are compilations of ‘papers' many of which are already familiar to the reader, this book is brimming with new and fresh contributions which together convey a breadth and depth of analytical thinking associated with the work of Leo Rangell.
If there is a theme to the book it is the superego and its role in the development of mental health and integrity.
For those readers who are steeped in the more interactional and object-related approaches to psychoanalysis, this book would be a refreshing balance. It contains much that stems from the classical Freudian tradition, with an emphasis on a structural model, though applied and extended beyond any narrow confines. I particularly enjoyed Jacob Arlow's chapter on ‘The Quest for Morality’ and Pearl King's chapter entitled ‘On being a Psychoanalyst: Integrity and Vulnerability in Psychoanalytic Organisations'. There are valuable chapters on ‘Thinking and the Superego’ (by Janine Chasseguet-Smirgel) and a ‘Theoretical Frame for the Study of Sexual Perversions' (by Otto Kernberg), which should be helpful for students of psychoanalytic psychotherapy as they both provide such clear frameworks for learning.
Those readers interested in wider applications of psychoanalytic thought will find chapters relevant to childhood trauma, ethics, and the political process.
Owing to its style and layout, this book can be dipped into over a period of time. It contains so much variety while being a book of real depth. It ought to be an essential purchase for everyone's library, whet