AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
![]() |
Home |  Store List |  FAQ |  Contact Us |   | ||
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
![]() |
Title: Identity's Architect: A Biography of Erik H. Erikson by Lawrence Jacob Friedman ISBN: 0-684-19525-9 Publisher: Scribner Book Company Pub. Date: 01 April, 1999 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (6 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: If You Want to Understand Erikson's Works, Read This First.
Comment: I had been introduced to the theories of Erik H. Erikson in a grad. course in Educational Psychology. The course introduced just enough of Erikson to whet my appetite to learn more about the man; I am glad I did because after reading this book, I feel I have gained a richer understanding of his 8 Stage Life Cycle Theory, and the concept of Identity.
Professor Friedman's book is compassionate, but not fawning. He gives as complete a picture of a very complex man; as complete as one would hope to have, and he does so in a non-judgemental way.
There are many unattractive aspects of Erikson the man; why did this sensitive man, this lover of children who was estranged from his own step-father, virtually disown his own son, who had Down's Syndrome, and have him institutionalized? What made him so ambivalent about his Jewish identity? Friedman explores these issues in a very thorough, yet compassionate way. Erikson himself had a difficult time reconciling the dark side of Gandi while writing his biography; lovers of Erikson, like myself, may have that same struggle while reading this book, but Mr. Friedman does a superb job of bringing out, and sythesizing the "dark Erik" with the Erikson whose works have inspired many a generation of people like myself who are advocates for the welfare of children.
I read this book first before reading "Childhood and Society" and "Identity Youth and Crisis" and I am glad I did, for Eriksons paradigm was born from his own identity crisis he suffered, which Friedman does a masterful job of portraying.
If you really want to understand Erikson's Works, read this book first. You too will be glad you did.
Rating: 5
Summary: A superb biography and introduction to Erik H. Erikson
Comment: This is a superb biography of one of the most influential psychoanalytic theorists of the American postwar period. Erikson's writings profoundly influenced not only clinical psychological work, but also the general tenor of social and cultural thinking in this country. Yet his insights were not immediately embraced, and his personal life was not without turmoil and profound heartache. Lawrence Friedman has done a wonderful job of presenting a fully dimensioned, meticulously researched and empathic portrait of this remarkable clinician and thinker who, perhaps more than any other individual writer, shaped the way that we think about ourselves and our society.
Rating: 5
Summary: More than an excellent biography
Comment: All too often when reading a biography, the author fails to ask the questions that often spring to my mind. Most of these questions are about about the subjects motivation...the why questions. Lawrence Friedman dares to try and answer the hard and complex questions about a life, in this case, Erik Erikson's life. Even if Erikson is only a vaguely familiar name, this biography is worth reading because its a study of a very human life. In addition to being a well-written life study, Identity's Architect helps us to ask the difficult question about the origins of our own identity. In tracing the reoccuring themes in Erikson's life, Friedman makes transparent the very human activity of identity construction. We know none of us springs whole from Zeus'head, but we rarely question how we came to be the individuals we are. In asking the questions of Erikson's life, Friedman challenges us to question the construction of our own identities.
![]() |
Title: Identity: Youth and Crisis (Austen Riggs Monograph, No 7) by Erik H. Erikson ISBN: 0393311449 Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: 01 May, 1994 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
![]() |
Title: Childhood and Society by Erik H. Erikson ISBN: 039331068X Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: 01 August, 1993 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
![]() |
Title: The Life Cycle Completed by Erik Erikson ISBN: 0393317722 Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: 01 June, 1998 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
![]() |
Title: The Erik Erikson Reader by Erik H. Erikson, Robert Coles, Erik Erikson ISBN: 0393048454 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: February, 2000 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
![]() |
Title: Identity and the Life Cycle by Erik H. Erikson ISBN: 0393311325 Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: 01 April, 1994 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments