Introducing Freud (Introducing...)

"I bought this whilst I was working in Psychiatry. In fact I recall seeing it in high school probably labelled as the Beginners guide to... . I bought it because I was too lazy to wade through the original texts and found it gave a pretty good "quick and dirty" guide to both Freud's work through looking at its evolution over his working life. The illustrations are interesting and frequently disturbing enough to provoke thought. The best thing about this book is that it is not an uncritical paen of praise to Freud. I points out flaws in his theories and alternative perspectives to him. Overall whether you want to be pretensious/impressive at dinner parties or are timepoor and want to get into the subject quickly this should solve your dilemma fast."
~ Written on 2004-01-17

"A comic book style is a great way to introduce complex subjects.
But with Freud it doesn't seem to work all that well as it tends to take a swipe at Freud and his ideas.
The book tends to gloss over his work and concentrate on the man and his lifestyle. However Freud was then in the early 20th Century a controversial figure and remains so even now 64 years after his death. The charts his work with Charcot, his use and abandoment of hypnosis, the development of his infamous psychoanaylsis, his use of cocaine, his frequent affairs and his infamous falling out with his prodigy Carl Jung on the boat to lecture in America.
The books strengths are its drawings, the caricurtures of the central character and his work particulary his ideas on child developnment all very amusing.
Overall a good starting point for anyone considering doing psychology or psychotherapy as Freud's ideas are still influential to this day in those fields especially in America."
~ Written on 2003-06-20

"Although I would not recommend reading this book without having read a little about Freud's theories elsewhere, this is an excellent revision tool for any counselling/psychotherapy student. As with all the books in Icon's "Introducing" series, the book is concise and really brings the subject alive with lots of well-drawn (and often humorous) illustrations which lodge in the memory much better than an overwhelming mass of text. The amount of information contained in this little book is surprisingly large and you will find yourself whipping through the whole in a matter of hours. A quick flip through takes minutes and will give a useful recap.

Some of the theories are not terribly well explained, but overall this is a very good introduction. If you just have a casual interest in Freud, there is no resource more enjoyable."
~ Written on 2003-03-07

"The idea of putting across complex concepts in a comic-book is good - and this book is certainly easy to read. But it's let down by poor explanations. Complex concepts are skimmed over and you're really not much wiser having read this book...."
~ Written on 2001-09-26

"Having drifted onto psychology through philosophy and semiotics, I found Introducing Freud to be a mercifully easy read, whilst still providing a good basic understanding of the man's basic theories. Although I found the mainly comic book style a slight distraction at first, it was an effective way of illustrating the points featured, and Oscar Zarate's art fitted the subject matter very well, and the "script" by Richard Appignanesi was spot on. This style was broken up by overviews and bulleted points detailing and clarifying the ideas, which always fitted naturally together. The book also provided a good springboard for research into other related people and subjects. An effective introduction that I would recommend this book to anyone who is casually studying, or beginning to study, Freud and related concepts."
~ Written on 2000-12-07