Longing: Psychoanalytic Musings on Desire

Throughout this thoughtful collection. the reader ponders a series of questions about desire and longing. How, in the complex and sophisticated world of abundance, can one simply know what one wants and then hold on to it? Once known, the ability to fulfill desire remains problematic, as psychological impediments prevents us from living as fully as we might. If we overcome these, can longing even be satisfied? On making a choice, do we mourn the not chosen? Can a desire be fully actualized or does it change its shape and meaning in the process of desiring itself?This book is designed to highlight various aspects of desire, the light and the dark, the igniting and the extinguishing. The contributors explore the scope of desire as it is discovered, relished, quashed, inhibited, or realized. Throughout there is a dialogue between interpersonal psychoanalytic theory and aspects of culture that are, or have been, taboo, cutting edge, or mundane. Also presented are fresh clinical perspectives on a diverse range of daily problems in living and struggles with desire. This book will appeal to psychoanalysts, academics, students, and a general readership.