Dostoyevsky's Stalker and Other Essays on Psychopathology and the Arts [Paperback]

InDostoyevsky's Stalker, we discover how the arts may illuminate psychiatry and psychoanalysis, as well as how these disciplines may elucidate works of literature, art, and cinema. Examining a diversity of authors, artists, historical figures, and psychopaths over the course of modern history, this groundbreaking collection of essays proposes a paradigm shift in psychiatry, based on the idea that some symptoms of mental illness may have constructive uses and may be used by the sufferer for mental and spiritual growth instead of going untreated or else being analyzed away. Michael Sperber, M.D., is the author ofHenry David Thoreau: Cycles and Psycheand the co-editor (with Lissy F. Jarvik, M.D., Ph.D.) ofPsychiatry and Genetics: Psychosocial, Ethical and Legal Considerations. Dr. Sperber trained in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, where he taught for many years. He has also taught in the honors program, Department of Social Relations, Harvard College, and is currently psychiatric consultant to the Neuropsychiatry / Behavioral Neurology Service at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts.

From Dostoyevsky to the Unabomber; from Thoreau to Woody Allen, Michael Sperber's new book is a tour de force of integrative thinking and creative analysis.Dostoyevsky's Stalkerwill be a valuable work for all those seeking deeper channels into the human mind. Ronald Pies, M.D., editor-in-chief, Psychiatric Times, clinical professor of psychiatry, Tufts University School of Medicine, author, Zimmerman's T

Consistently and elegantly in these essays, Dr. Sperber shows psychodynamics and the arts to be mutually illuminating-offering complementary ways of perceiving persons struggling for self-awareness, authenticity, and worthy lives. An intelligently adventurous book-the report of an alert, imaginative, and appropriately ranging professional. Paul Schwaber, Ph.D., professor of letters, Wesleyan University, author, The Cast of CharalCÀ