From Anxiety to Zoolander: Notes on Psychoanalysis

Notes on Psychoanalysis is a collection of twenty essays on psychoanalytic themes. Written in an accessible style, it is readable by a total newcomer to the subject while also being relevant to clinicians, trainees, patients and students from different disciplines. While many of the essays focus on clinical questions, they also speak about art, comedy, fashion, fame and fiction. Freud and Lacan are central points of reference, but the book as a whole is far from doctrinaire, with all areas of psychoanalytic theory being up for discussion.

Clinical topics include acting out, narcissism, gender, transference, diagnosis, and the oedipus complex, tracing the ideas through Freud and the post-Freudians, and examining their relevance to the contemporary psychoanalytic clinic. Non-clinical topics include Louise Bourgeois’ notes on her analysis, the phenomenon of stand-up comedy and the humiliation of the audience, Paris Hilton’s televised friendship auditions, and Ben Stiller’s comic masculinity in ＂Zoolander.＂

While each essay is self-contained, the book overall argues for the continued relevance of Freudian ideas in the treatment of psychic suffering, as well as in the interpretation of social and cultural phenomena.