"Although a brilliant and charming man, and an excellent
horse rider, [Masud Khan] also caused great distress to many colleagues. These
beautifully edited Work Books offer a rare glimpse into the mind of a
complicated psychoanalyst. We have much to learn from Khan about how to be a
human being and, moreover, how not to be.” - Professor Estela V.
Welldon, Emeritus Consultant Psychiatrist in Psychotherapy, Tavistock and
Portman NHS Trust.
"Psychoanalysts have long been aware of the fact that
extraordinary intelligence and alarming corruption can co-exist in the same
individual. However, the case of Masud Khan is truly extraordinary. He combined
erudition and charm with thoroughgoing contempt. The psychoanalytic profession
owes a deep debt of gratitude to Steven Kuchuck and Linda Hopkins, who
systematically collected Khan's papers so that we can study them for
ourselves." - Glen O. Gabbard, M.D., Clinical Professor of
Psychiatry, Baylor College of Medicine.
"Khan's workbooks are fascinating. They are strangely akin
to a stream of consciousness in which the writer argues with his longings,
hubris, disappointments, hurts, exuberances while engaging with the key figures
in psychoanalysis. This crucial period in the field expands its understandings
of the private self – of which Khan was a prime theorist – and of the quality
of relatedness. We are introduced to his wide philosophical readings, his
knowledge of art and his struggles with friends, with his wife and with
psychoanalytic colleagues. Compelling." - Susie Orbach,
psychoanalyst and author of The Impossibility of Sex and Bodies
"What a privilege to have access to Masud
Khan's Work Books. They are raw, insightful, sharply charged perceptions of
life in progress filled with social commentary, psychoanalytic vision, irony
and horror. His criticism of colleagues, society and world pull no punches, yet
a profound sense of Beauty and appreciation of the best in us come through. He
has a special gift for 'nooks and crannies' of experience as well as pulsating
depths. Thanks to Linda Hopkins and Steven Kuchuck for the treasure they helped
mediate." - Michael Eigen, Ph.D., author of The
Challenge of Being Human, The Sensitive Self and The
Psychoanalytic Mystic
“Here’s an unusual read, an incredible opportunity for access
to the inner world of a brilliant and controversial psychoanalyst. Hopkins and
Kuchuck’s scholarship and persistence against the odds bring us into Masud
Khan’s private self as revealed in his diaries ... This book will be a treasure
trove for scholars of mid-twentieth century psychoanalysis. As for the rest of
us, who wouldn’t want to read the diaries of a man who 'dares to say and think
anything'?” - Jill Savege Scharff, M.D., FABP, International
Psychotherapy Institute and co-author of The Interpersonal Unconscious, Winner
of The Sigourney Award 2021.
“Jacques Lacan said famously that the
psychoanalyst must be 'a man of letters.' Masud Khan was as literate as any
analyst of his time, and readers interested in the history of psychoanalysis
will find a treasure trove here. Following a fascinating introduction by the
editors, the Work Books reveal Khan at his vituperative best, with flashes of
prescience and wit. They remind us, too, of things we might like to forget
about our impossible profession.” - Deborah Anna Luepnitz, Ph.D.,
Institute for Relational Psychoanalysis of Philadelphia.
“Linda Hopkins and Steven Kuchuck’s
indefatigable commitment and careful scholarship introduce us to Khan's long-awaited
workbooks. Their meticulous scholarship clarifies Khan's sometimes confusing
allusions while also protecting the integrity of the document. This volume
gives us a fascinating window into – among many things – Winnicott's own
thinking and personhood; Khan's complex and often contradictory psychology;
British psychoanalytic politics; Khan's personal relationships with many
prominent psychoanalysts ... along with a window into the development of Khan's
thinking. A delicious, provocative, sometimes disturbing, and utterly
satisfying volume.” - Joyce Slochower, Ph.D., ABPP.
"In this unique record of grandiose
omnipotence mixed with true scholarship, Khan exposes far more of himself than
he realizes. There are so many intriguing theories here. Alas, his intellectual
musings do not translate into the gold of insight: he remains trapped in a
fantasy of his superiority and the reality of solipsism; despite all his
cleverness and knowledge, without self-awareness." - Oliver James,
Relational Psychotherapist, The Bowlby Centre.
