Journeys to self-acceptance Book

This is one of the very best books I've read on Freud or Lacan. It serves as an excellent introduction to both thinkers, with each chapter treating a different subject within psychoanalysis by focusing, first, on two contrary views of the subject that can be found in Freud's work, and second, by showing how one of these lines of thinking on the subject is further pursued by Lacan. This structure allows one to get a sense of Lacan's views in relation to Freud without obscuring the other tendencies within Freud's thought.

I don't know that I have ever read a book that is as generous to Freud and Lacan, and as grounded in their texts, while at the same time being wholly critical of the ways in which they elevate historically and geographically limited conceptions of gender, sexuality, and family life into a priori structures. One really gets a sense of the value of psychoanalysis and of its limits, at least in the forms that it has had up 'til now.

The readings of Kristeva and Irigaray towards the end of the volume are an extra treat.