Short description:

Clinical Fictions: Psychoanalytic Novelists and Short Story Writers is the first book to explore works of fiction written by prominent psychoanalysts.

Long description:

Clinical Fictions: Psychoanalytic Novelists and Short Story Writers is the first book to explore works of fiction written by prominent psychoanalysts.

Broken down into thematic sections, the book explores the literary output of pioneering psychoanalysts such as Julia Kristeva, Bruce Fink, Thomas Odgen and Gregorio Kohon, among others. Berman looks at works of historical fiction, detective fiction and the short story, and explores how recurring themes typical of these genres can be explored both psychoanalytically and through a literary lens. The works included explore experiences of childhood adversity, life in dystopian societies, experiences of psychosis, bodily autonomy, personal loss and, above all, trauma. Unpicking these themes, and their depiction through fiction, Berman gives the reader the tools to apply psychoanalytic literary theory to further works. Interweaving his personal correspondence with authors, including a heartwarming exchange with Cliff Wilkerson, Berman offers unparalleled access to the inner working of the writers? minds.

This book will be of interest to students and researchers exploring psychoanalytic literary theory, as well as mental health practitioners who are interested in the intersections between literature and psychoanalysis and discovering new ways of exploring the unspoken and unconscious.

?The sheer breadth of the project is impressive, introducing to me, and I?m sure many other potential readers, new thinkers and works in both literature and psychoanalysis.?

William simms, author of Obscenity, Psychoanalysis and Literature, Routledge

?I know of no other book that surveys this material in quite such an elegant and artful manner or that takes up this topic with such clinical and writerly sensibilities. The theme of traumatic loss is clearly crucial in this exploration of the literary unconscious; this book will be a vital reference text for a psychoanalytic and clinical readership.?

Derek Hook, Associate Professor of Psychology and a clinical supervisor at Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, USA

Table of Contents:

Acknowledgments Introduction Part I: Historical Fiction Chapter 1. Julia Kristeva: Teresa, My Love: An Imagined Life of the Saint of Avila Chapter 2. James Herman Kleiger: The 11th Inkblot Part II: Detective Fiction Chapter 3. Jonathan Kellerman: The Clinic Chapter 4. Alan Krohn: The Mind?s Eye Chapter 5. Richard P. Kluft: A Sinister Subtraction Chapter 6. Bruce Fink: The Inspector Canal Novels Part III: Privileging Fiction Over Psychoanalysis Chapter 7. Gregorio Kohon: Red Parrot, Wooden Leg Chapter 8. Thomas Ogden?s Fiction Chapter 9. Arlene Heyman: Scary Old Sex and Artifact Chapter 10. Austin Ratner: The Jump Artist and In the Land of the Living Chapter 11. Joan Wexler: A Pot from Shards and Make Me the Sky Chapter 12. Cordelia Schmidt-Hellerau: Memento Chapter 13. Cliff Wilkerson: The Cotton Flower Part IV: The Jacobs Brothers Chapter 14. Theodore Jacobs: The Year of Durocher and The Way It Ends Chapter 15. Daniel Jacobs: The Distance from Home Part V: Short Fiction Chapter 16. Merle Molofsky: Necessary Voices Chapter 17. Richard Reichbart: Curious Stories of Diverse Places Chapter 18. Christopher Gibson: Tales from the Unconscious Chapter 19. Irene Cairo: Inside Out: Intimate Voices Chapter 20. Luke Hadge: Psychoanalytic Stories Chapter 21. Other Psychoanalytic Fiction Worth Reading Conclusion