The Freud Reader

Like many people, I had a passing familiarity with Freudian concepts (repression, the unconscious) that had entered the general culture, and had read small bits of Freud in college. Peter Gay is one of Freud's foremost biographers, and his mastery of Freud's work is reflected in his selections for this anthology. Each selection is arranged chronologically (except for a brief autobiographical piece by Freud, which serves as an introduction) to show the evolution of Freud's thought. Professor Gay adds helpful introductory notes to put each individual piece in context, and relate it to the body of Freud's work. The anthology also has extensive references for further reading.For me, the revelation of this anthology is how the Freud of popular culture is not the Freud that emerges in his work. For example, Freudian theory is commonly regarded as "pathologizing" homosexuality. However, it becomes clear from reading the selections here that, clinically, Freud saw homosexual orientation as no more or less "pathological" than "normal" heterosexuality. He regarded the "pathology" as a matter of social convention, and noted how homosexuality was admired in ancient cultures. This is not to say that Freud himself undertook to challenge the homophobia of his place and time, but it does show how his thinking was more far more nuanced than the popular image we've inherited. The selections also give a fascinating glimpse at the mindset of late nineteenth and early twentieth century medicine: Freud's entire theory evolved out an effort to treat somatic complaints that appeared to have no organic cause.Professor Gay has assembled an extraordinarily well-crafted selection of Freud's writings. They provide an excellent overview of Freud's actual work, and the development of his thought.

FREUD WAS ONCE NOMINATED FOR A NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE....HE IS A GREAT WRITER ..CLARITYAND FLUIDITY ARE HIS HALLMARKS...THE SUBJECT MATTER IS ALWAYS FASCINATING

As many other reviewers have stated, this book covers an enormous ground of Freud's thought which deals with very variegated subject-areas. The reason I'm giving this four stars and not five is that the type is small, which may pose a problem for certain readers, and the margins are not big enough to take notes (a must for such writings). Would be much more handy for studying Freud is the book was a little bit bigger, with wider margins and a bigger type.Other than these minor faults, the commentary and footnotes of Gay is very instructive for the uninitiated.

Book arrived in perfect condition and it’s so informative. Really covers all bases

It's a beautiful book. So wordy and repetitive though. I love Freud, but I definitely would prefer a summarized version of this book. I wonder if I will ever complete the whole thing. Otherwise, love how the cover feels. If you are a hardchore Freud fan definitely recommend!

one of the most important books that has even been written...freud's contribution to the intellectual culture of the world can not be overestimated. we read this book in my 100A class in UC Berkeley. a must-read for every academic.

Found this at the Salvator Dali museum after a wonderful day going through that masterpiece full of Dali masterpieces. I love it! Freud deeply influenced Dali and many other artists. The simplified text, yet clear and concise manner in which it was translated it amazing.

I read selections for my Great Books of the World Book Club. Very interesting to discuss Freud with this learned group.

Peter Gay has carefully selected the most critical works of Sigmund Freud in this book. I have a lot of other "reader" type books in my library and this one is hands down the best in terms of selection.

This text collection is a great opportunity to readers to get in touch with Freud’s main ideas. The selection of the texts was carefully made by Peter Gay. Definitely, this is a must read book.

This is the US edition of a compendium that has long been available in the UK, worth buying because of the more attractive presentation and better quality paper. I prefer it to the Penguin Reader since, in my view, it offers a more representative and comprehensive selection. If you need or want to get a handle on what Freud actually wrote, then this is the book to go for.

If you want to learn a bit about Freud, this is the perfect book to start with. It carefully organises all of his work, summaries it so well and is written in good, layman terms. Kind of. You do need a humanities background.

This book is okay but actually but actually I looking for an original book of psychology and philosophy or a book inclusive of all volumes of book written by Freud himself and not edited or written by some other writer.Kindly reply so that I can further place orderRegards,Alik Kumar Paul9831546311