Norman Oliver Brown (1913–2002)

Brown's re-evaluation of Freud takes a chisel to the the stuffy political correctness of modern psychoanalysis to reveal its writhing, breathing Dionysian elements, in effort to construct a pathway out of neuroses. We are shown Freud's inheritance of Blake and Boehme, the civilized man's alchemy of turning shit into gold, and the necessity of the marriage of life and death. A dense and explosive cocktail of criticism, psychology, philosophy, and stray hairs of the poetic. Sigmund gone show more wide-eyed and frothing at the mouth, gnawing on the hydrogen bomb. show less

Apparently Martin Luther once warded off the Devil by farting. Just one of the many interesting tidbits in this book. Cites Freud on virtually every page but not afraid to point out the confusions of the "master" (yes he does refer to Freud that way...maybe with some irony).

I have no idea why this book does not get more play. It is of course a bit dated and perhaps a bit misguided in its move towards 'polymorphous perversity' as the overcoming of repression. That being said I don't read too many books with the same forceful, clear, and original analysis and argumentation. With the resurgence of psychoanalysis in the last decade hopefully this book will be taken up again.

I still pick up this book for its bits and pieces. It shudders. It shakes. It smokes. Things come out of the woodwork. It's Freud on PCP, basically.