A prodigious history of American psychoanalysis from 1917 to 1985, wonderfully lucid and informative. Hale, whose first volume (Freud and the Americans: The Beginnings of Psychoanalysis in the United States, 1971) covered the years 1871 to 1917, here takes on the rich, complex modern period. Throughout, he captures a central paradox. Professionally, psychoanalysis was largely ``medicalized,'' with the American Psychoanalytic Association zealously limiting membership to psychiatrists (although Freud himself advocated the training of lay analysts). Yet culturally, America more than any other country saw the ``earliest, widest and most thoroughgoing applications'' of psychoanalytic treatment and the Freudian worldview. In fact, one of the primary virtues of Hale's book is its exploration of psychoanalytic thinking and practice in such fields as education, criminology, social work, and pediatrics, as well as among quite diverse literary and cultural figures (e.g., during the 1920s, Eugene O'Neill, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Max Eastman, and Mabel Dodge). The author is equally strong on the conceptual evolution of classical and neo-Freudianism, with a particularly clear, succinct, chapter on American ego psychology. Addressing the ``crisis'' in American psychoanalysis—its significantly diminished appeal to psychiatrists and patients alike since about 1965—Hale adduces at least a half-dozen causes, including the rise of psychopharmacology and other forms of somatic psychiatry; the growing popularity of behaviorist, cognitive, and other therapeutic modalities that focus more on symptom relief than insight; and the increasing criticism of Freud for aspects of his thought considered antifeminist and socioculturally conservative. During a period of considerable ignorance and confusion about what psychoanalysis was and is, Hale's book couldn't be more timely. Over 20 years in the making, this extraordinary contribution to American intellectual history was well worth waiting for.
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-19-504637-4
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Oxford Univ.
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1994
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
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