THE LONG WAIT: And Other Psychoanalytic Narratives

by M. Masud R. Khan ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 1988

Here, Khan, an unusual psychoanalyst (and a Punjab prince of ""immense wealth"" who practices in England) demonstrates via seven case histories the different kinds of relationships that occur between him and his decidedly offbeat patients. With Luis, for example, a 49-year-old homosexual who lacks impulse control and who announces that he intends to commit suicide on his 50th birthday, Khan at first responds contemptuously, calling him a ""mixed-up Yiddish kid who...is terrified of aging further."" Raised in Chicago by impoverished Russian immigrant parents who copulated in front of their children (10 of 13 died young), Luis was only nine when he began ""sucking erections"" of his Trotskyite father's radical friends. Luis currently lives with Dave, a successful novelist/screenwriter and, during analysis, begins an affair with a boy orphan. With much attention from Khan, Luis nurses Dave as he dies from brain cancer and learns to care responsibly for young Mario. With fellow-Punjabi Aisha--twice married off by her wealthy landowning family and, at age 32, self-destructing through drugs and multiple casual sexual encounters--Khan adopts a stern, patriarchal persona. Aisha stands up to him, and he hopes she will end her ""long wait"" and become a person in her own right. Khan intercedes when her family tries to force her to terminate a pregnancy by an unknown father. Later, her ailing father reconciles himself to his newly independent daughter and his new grandson. Hardly your usual detached analyst, Khan immerses himself in his patients' lives, philosophizes about them, discusses them at length with his mentor, and, for the reader, tosses off critiques of Freud and other famous psychoanalysts--all of which make for fascinating reading.

Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1988

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Summit/Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1988

Categories: NONFICTION