The Vitality of Objects

What is the goal of psychoanalysis? What is it that only it can do? Christopher Bollas raises these and other questions in his writings on psychoanalysis. The Vitality of Objects is a stunning collection of essays exploring the work of Christopher Bollas, described by Adam Phillips as "the most evocative psychoanalytic writer we have." Through such influential books as The Shadow of the Object, The Mystery of Things, Cracking Up, Being a Character, Forces of Destiny, Hysteria, and with...
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What is the goal of psychoanalysis? What is it that only it can do? Christopher Bollas raises these and other questions in his writings on psychoanalysis. The Vitality of Objects is a stunning collection of essays exploring the work of Christopher Bollas, described by Adam Phillips as "the most evocative psychoanalytic writer we have." Through such influential books as The Shadow of the Object, The Mystery of Things, Cracking Up, Being a Character, Forces of Destiny, Hysteria, and with David Sundelson, The New Informants, Bollas's ideas have reached beyond the psychoanalytic community and proven equally relevant in the arts, social sciences and humanities. In marking the scope of his concepts, the editor and contributors have retained Bollas's own commitment to clarity and complexity, opposing what Adam Phillips terms "the insidious violence of oversimplification" so prevalent in contemporary interdisciplinary thought. Broadly influential and potent, inspired by the vigor and fertility of Bollas's writing, these essays significantly enhance contemporary discourse on the nature of self. CONTRIBUTORS: Joel Beck, Kate Browne, Joanne Feit Diehl, Greg Drasler, James Grotstein, Arne Jemstedt, Gabriela Mann, Anthony Molino, Adam Phillips, Jacqueline Rose, Joseph Scalia, Wesley Shumar, Michael Szollosy.