In and Out the Garbage Pail

I was initially interested in Fritz Perls after seeing his psychotherapy in effect after the Gloria Tapes. At that time I didn't quite understand how the nervousness portrayed was a 'phonie' emotion but anger was not. Eitherway I saw Fritz as having a delightful personality with a wonderful sense of humor. After reading the first 20-30 pages of the book I started to understand why the nervousness was not seen as genuine. Gloria was nervous because she rehearsed what was expected of her social self; this is coping to an extent that interferes with the genuiness of a person. When Gloria was angry she was saying what she felt, it did not matter that she was a patient, she was genuine by eliminating the pre-concieved notion from her mindset that she should behave in a submissive manner. So far Im about halfway through the book and am suprised at several things. Mostly, the flow of the book is as sporadic as can be dabbling in theories, feelings, and events. This is perhaps one of the most humorous books I have read, much less bland that I could ever expect from a (dare I say) behaviorist. Fritz talks about everything from LSD, to punching a man in the face, to letting patients choke him, to his multiple sexcapades. Its impossible not to love how genuine and free spirited Fritz is in his writing. Ill upate this review once im done with the second half of the book. This is a book that you just sit down to enjoy, not one to read when looking for any praticular kind of insight. Despite this, insight is an almost conclusive outcome of reading this, as is entertainment.

This is one of my favorite books. I lost my original one. Since it is out of print I feel lucky that I found one to replace the one I lost.

This book appears to be a less colorful reprint of the original that was published by Real People Press of Moab, Utah in 1969-70 and in subsequent North American and international reprinted editions. The black and white art on the cover looks to be altered reprints taken from interior illustrations present in the original RPP editions. It should be noted that Fritz personally requested the artist, Gustav Russ Youngreen - Dr. Gry, illustrate his autobiography. Fritz approved each of Gry's drawings for the book. Is the Gestalt Journal edition illustrated? Perhaps not. The original illustrations lent something to Perls' book and were noteworthy in that in terms of current psychotherapist's autobiographies, it offered a welcome departure. Perls autobiography reflects the many facets of the man and is a more than entertaining read. Not being the usual pedantic, piled higher and deeper defense or intellectual criticism of a concept or phenomenon, In and Out of The Garbage Pail playfully reminds us of our 'garbage' ridden lives. Perhaps we could develope a paradim from it for our Urban Landfills that would do more for the environment than compress plastic?