Synopses & Reviews
Review
"Many of the essays in this work were published in journals, usually directed at contemporary subjects such as the student rebellion of 1968, the place of ideology in literary criticism, the function of revisionist critics of Freud. Crews finds psychoanalysis applicable to the study of literature, but he argues against its reductionist excesses. He plays the role of skeptical believer, so much so that often, in the prefatory remarks to each essay, he indicates his present reservations to his earlier positions. Crews gives the impression of challenging current positions while at the same time wittily enjoying his participation in them. It is a lively though not especially rewarding form of self-display." Reviewed by Robert Jackson, Virginia Quarterly Review (Copyright 2006 Virginia Quarterly Review)