Creativity and Madness

Albert Rothenberg, M.D., is clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard University and director of research at the Austen Riggs Center in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. His books include The Emerging Goddess: The Creative Process in Art, Science, and Other Fields.

This intriguing theory will no doubt provoke lively debate both in and outside professional circles. For lay readers, however, the book's real pleasure lies in the substantive analyses of Sylvia Plath, August Strindberg, Emily Dickenson, Tennessee Williams, Eugene O'Neill, and William Faulkner. Wilson Library Bulletin Albert Rothenberg has devoted the major part of a distinguished career to a broad program of research on creativity. In his excellent, concise volume, he reports his current views on this fascinating subject... It is well-argued and judicious and, therefore, a useful introduction to the domain of creativity research. Journal of the American Medical Association

• AcknowledgmentsChapter 1. A Scientist Looks at CreativityChapter 2. The Creative Process in Art and ScienceChapter 3. Inspiration and the Creative ProcessChapter 4. The Mystique of the Unconscious and Creativity Chapter 5. Psychosis and the Creation of Poetry Chapter 6. Self-Destruction and Self-CreationChapter 7. The Perils of Psychoanalyzing (or Scandalizing) Emily DickinsonChapter 8. The Psychosis and Triumph of August StrindbergChapter 9. Homosexuality and CreativityChapter 10. The Muse in the BottleChapter 11. Eugene O'Neill's Creation of The Iceman ComethChapter 12. Creativity and Mental Illness Chapter 13. Psychotherapy and CreativityNotesIndex