The Lives of Erich Fromm

In mid-century America, a peak era for public intellectuals, Erich Fromm's psychological and sociological writings were required reading among the intelligentsia. What's more, his ideas were widely discussed by others, ranging from the millions who devoured The Art of Loving to U.S. Senators and even President John Kennedy. In this compelling biography, historian Lawrence Friedman, author of the definitive biography of psychoanalyst Erik Erikson, details the cornucopia of ideas that issued from Fromm's fertile mind as well as the fascinating and little known details of his lengthy, controversial and exceedingly full life. -- Howard Gardner, Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education Through this thorough portrait, Love's Prophet emerges as an exemplar of enjoying an examined life to its fullest potential. Publishers Weekly The brilliantly comprehensive study of psychoanalyst Erich Fromm's (1900-1980) many 'lives' as a clinician, philosopher, social critic and political activist... Academic biography at its best. Kirkus Reviews (starred review) Accessible to general readers - a sympathetic, stimulating biography of one of the most influential psychologists of the 20th century. Library Journal (starred review) A thoroughly absorbing history of the cultural and political context within which Fromm's life was lived. -- Vivian Gornick Boston Review Friedman is a consummate intellectual biographer. -- Michael M. Canaris America Meticulous, detailed... A model of intellectual biography. -- Alan Ryan New York Review of Books A valuable contribution to Fromm scholarship and to American political and social history. -- Daniel Burston PsycCritiques A deep, insightful, and very human portrait of one of the great public intellectuals of the 20th century. Choice Friedman's biography tracks Fromm through the various phases of his life in detail, providing a thickness of description that hasn't been available before. -- Paul Reitter Times Literary Supplement The most thoroughly, well-researched, and balanced biography so far of Erich Fromm... A clear and richly detailed overview of Fromm's life and work. American Historical Review An intellectual biography of the first order. Journal of American History An outstanding intellectual and biographical study... Lawrence Friedman effectively helps us understand the lives and transformations of Erich Fromm as analyzed in this lucid book. Society

Lawrence J. Friedman is a professor in Harvard University's Mind/Brain/Behavior Initiative and a professor emeritus at Indiana University. The author of eight scholarly books and more than fifty articles, he has lectured in eleven countries and was named International Writer of the Year for 2003 by the International Biographical Center. His works include Identity's Architect: A Biography of Erik Erikson; Menninger: The Family and the Clinic; Gregarious Saints: Self and Community in American Abolitionism; and The White Savage: Racial Fantasies in the Postbellum South.

Foreword, by Gerald N. Grob Acknowledgments Prologue: Writing Lives Part 1: Germany 1. The Unsteady Apprentice 2. Frankfurt Scholar Part 2: The Americas 3. The Americanization of a European Intellectual 4. Escape from Freedom 5. Clinician and Ethicist 6. To Love and to Mentor 7. Politics and Prose Part 3: Global Citizenship 8. Prophecies for a Troubled World 9. A Third Way 10. "Life Is Extravagance": Almost 11. Hope and Stasis 12. Love and Death A Bibliographical Note Notes Index