On Kissing, Tickling, and Being Bored: Psychoanalytic Essays on the Unexamined Life

by Adam Phillips

Book Overview

In a style that is writerly and audacious, Adam Phillips takes up a variety of seemingly ordinary subjects underinvestigated by psychoanalysis--kissing, worrying, risk, solitude, composure, even... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0674634632
• Release Date: January 1994
• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Length: 150 Pages
• Weight: 0.58 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.4" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

A Pure Joy

Not only is this book rife with insights, it is also written with tenderness and the prose are crystal clean. My background is more in theory. But I was struck by how plainspoken and easy to understand Phillips is here. --Jargon-free and straightforward. You certainly don't have to be a rocket scientist to follow him. Personally, I feel just a little bit happier in my life for having read this book. It is profoundly sane. And great fun.

Thought-provoking

Adam Phillips writing is extremely thought-provoking, though a little more academic than I'd expected. Also, another reviewer has written that a more than fundamental knowledge of Freud's philosophies are important before tackling Mr. Phillips' text. I agree. It's been fifteen years since I've read Freud, so the memory was a little rusty. From someone who never reads philosophy, this really held my interest. Time well spent...

Very good

The essays were more academic than I'd anticipated and I think they presuppose a working knowledge of Freud and psychoanalytic theory. I skipped around to the ones that interested me, meaning I didn't feel like reading all of them. I've got an advanced degree in psychology; I understand from where this book comes and I thought it was just fine. Smart, worth looking at, but not as "nothing else like this" as the reviews seem to indicate. Worth mentioning: Phillips is a child psychologist and his anecdotes, from his own practice, are about children. Four stars for intelligence.

delicious psychoanalytic attention to overlooked topics

new and creative vehicle for teaching/exploring analytic thought--the essay--similar in style to Yolam's "Love's Executioner"

very stimulating!

This book is a great buy totally the best.