Freud: The Making of An Illusion

From the master of Freud debunkers, the book that definitively puts an end to the myth of psychoanalysis and its creator. Sigmund Freud is one of the most influential figures of western society. His ideas transformed the way that we think about our minds, our selves and even our thoughts. But while he was undeniably a visionary thinker, Freud's legend was also the work of years of careful mythologizing, and a fierce refusal to accept criticism or scrutiny of his often unprincipled methods. In Freud: The Making of an Illusion, Frederick Crews dismantles Freud's totemic reputation brick by brick. Looking at recently revealed correspondence, he examines Freud's own personality, his selfishness, competitiveness and willingness to cut corners and exploit weaknesses to get his own way. He explores Freud's whole-hearted embracing of cocaine as a therapeutic tool, and the role it played in his own career. And he interrogates Freud's intellectual legacy, exposing how many of his ideas and conclusions were purely speculative, or taken wholesale from others. As acidic as it is authoritative, this critique of the man behind the legend is compulsory reading for anyone interested in Freudianism.

About the Author :
Frederick Crews is an essayist and literary critic. Professor Emeritus of English at the University of California, Berkeley, Crews is the author of books on Henry James, E. M. Forster and Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Postmodern Pooh, a book of satirical essays parodying contemporary criticism (Profile). Crews has written a number of essays, book reviews and commentaries for the New York Review of Books, on topics including Freud.

Review :
Intensively researched and readable book ... with fastidious and forensic care, Crews assembles his material into a 762-page charge sheet of lies, hypocrisy, falsified evidence, sexual creepery, 'intellectual parasitism', corruption, cruelty, botched physical and mental treatments, money-grabbing, 'thick-headedness', bad science, wild, evidence-free speculation and autobiography shiftily disguised as clinical evidence. Elegantly written ... a punchy addition to the ongoing argument over [Freud's] significance A stylish and biting study of scientific mendacity 'Anyone who enjoys reading the systematic dismantling of a reputation will relish this riveting expose ... highly convincing ... This devastating book might kick-start the long awaited process of his downfall from grace. An elegant and relentless exposé ... Crews comes to bury Freud, not to praise him, and he does so convincingly. Impressively well-researched, powerfully written, and definitively damning. This riveting and masterful reassessment puts the final nail in the coffin of Sigmund Freud's misguided career by meticulously documenting his willful descent into pseudoscience. Altogether a fascinating read! Investigating the famed investigator of the human mind, Frederick Crews reveals Freud as a self-aggrandizing charlatan who cured no one and lacked the most elementary insight into human beings. The Freudian myth - one of the thought-deforming tyrannies of the 20th century - is hereby at an end. This book is as exhilarating as the fall of the Berlin Wall. For those who worship Freud, and even those millions who have simply admired his ideas, Crews's rigorous and captivating detective work will be a bracing challenge. Frederick Crews has written a riveting, masterful biography of Freud that demolishes forever the myth of the brilliant, heroic conquistador of the human mind. Delving deeply into hitherto suppressed archival material, Crews paints an unforgettable portrait of an utterly incompetent psychotherapist whose ruthless pursuit of wealth and fame led him to disregard the welfare of his patients as well as the scruples of scientific method In Freud: The Making of an Illusion, Frederick Crews tells the riveting story of how a troubled, insecure, but supremely ambitious doctor stumbled from one therapeutic fantasy to another before hitting on the one that made him famous. Crews is a master narrator, and he has put his finger on the key factor in Freud's career: the remarkable series of intense, morally fraught, and truly bizarre relationships (collegial, therapeutic, and sexual) that kept Freud going as his theories proved ever resistant to confirmation One has to admire Crews's story: the way he tells it, and the marvelous blending of the different sources A tremendously important book.