Christopher Bollas is a psychoanalyst in private practice in London. He is the author of The Shadow of the Object (1987), Being a Character (1992), Cracking Up (1995), The New Informants (with David Sundelson) (1995), and The Mystery of Things (1999).

• Introduction. The Characters of Psychoanalysis. Sexual Epiphany. Sexuality and its Transformations. In the Beginning is the Mother. Erotising Absence. Functions of the Father. The Seduction of the Story. Hot and Cold. Showing Off. Self as Theatre. The Malignant Hysteric. Transference Addicts. Seduction and the Therapist. The Last Chapter. References. Index.

Christopher Bollas is a psychoanalyst in private practice in London. He is the author of The Shadow of the Object (1987), Being a Character (1992), Cracking Up (1995), The New Informants (with David Sundelson) (1995), and The Mystery of Things (1999).

• Introduction. The Characters of Psychoanalysis. Sexual Epiphany. Sexuality and its Transformations. In the Beginning is the Mother. Erotising Absence. Functions of the Father. The Seduction of the Story. Hot and Cold. Showing Off. Self as Theatre. The Malignant Hysteric. Transference Addicts. Seduction and the Therapist. The Last Chapter. References. Index.