Introduction

Heinz Kohut used to say that he learned about narcissism during the period of time when he served as president of the American Psychoanalytic Association. He said that working as an administrator revealed to him all of the frailties and sensitivities of human beings. I can readily say that serving as editor of this series of volumes of Progress in Self Psychology was as enlightening a course on narcissism as one could possibly imagine. I was able to be both witness and participant in all of the intense and varied aspects of mankind's narcissism and its vicissitudes, and so I can probably qualify as an accurate reporter of these issues as Inow move to the sidelines.

As a convenience, I would like to discuss separately the three major divisions in assembling a journal or a book: the authors or writers, the readers, and the editor. Each role deserves a special consideration although any student of narcissism may hardly be able to successfully tease them apart into our usual recognized categories.

Most of the contributions submitted to Progress come from fledgling or relatively new writers. We regularly received and still do occasionally receive summary statements about self psychology submitted by students eager to share their newfound knowledge. Rejection of such often quite accurate and good reviews leads to the sort of hurt feelings that remain stifled. However, older and more experienced authors seem free to vent their anger at this insult of rejection. Suffice it to say that the grandiosity that is required to write a paper is not easily put to rest at any stage before publication, but it most easily turns to rage if not immediately responded to positively.