On Kissing, Tickling, and Being Bored: Psychoanalytic Essays on the Unexamined Life

Not only is this book rife with insights, it is also written with tenderness and the prose are crystal clean. My background is more in theory. But I was struck by how plainspoken and easy to understand Phillips is here. --Jargon-free and straightforward. You certainly don't have to be a rocket scientist to follow him. Personally, I feel just a little bit happier in my life for having read this book. It is profoundly sane. And great fun.

Adam Phillips writing is extremely thought-provoking, though a little more academic than I'd expected. Also, another reviewer has written that a more than fundamental knowledge of Freud's philosophies are important before tackling Mr. Phillips' text. I agree. It's been fifteen years since I've read Freud, so the memory was a little rusty. From someone who never reads philosophy, this really held my interest. Time well spent...

The essays were more academic than I'd anticipated and I think they presuppose a working knowledge of Freud and psychoanalytic theory. I skipped around to the ones that interested me, meaning I didn't feel like reading all of them. I've got an advanced degree in psychology; I understand from where this book comes and I thought it was just fine. Smart, worth looking at, but not as "nothing else like this" as the reviews seem to indicate. Worth mentioning: Phillips is a child psychologist and his anecdotes, from his own practice, are about children. Four stars for intelligence.

new and creative vehicle for teaching/exploring analytic thought--the essay--similar in style to Yolam's "Love's Executioner"

This book is a great buy totally the best.