The Pornographer's Grief and Other Tales of Human Sexuality, Joseph Glenmullen, M.D., Harper Collins Publishers, New York, 1993, $20.00, pages 248.


Reviewed by John A. Speyrer

Usually, therapist authors place their most interesting stories at the beginning of their book. Not so in this case. Harvard Medical School Psychiatrist Glenmullen kept the best tale almost for the last. "Traumatic Juxtapositions" recounts the story of his patient who witnessed an assault between two men in a food store and how the analysis of the patient's resultant upset led to the repressed memory of an earlier assault between two men involving her.

The author believes that psychotic patients don't have enough defenses, in contrast to neurotic patients who have too many defenses. He feels that one's psychological problems are always reflected in one's sexuality. Sexual behavior invariably reflects one's psychological scars because sexuality, at its basic level, is so tied in with social interactions and feelings.

And yet, according to Dr. Glenmuller, very few patients seek help for sexual problems. In psychotics, the problems rarely arise because of the presence of more basic issues of making a living. The case studies presented are superficial in depth and not particularly well-written or interesting (except for Traumatic Juxtapositions!). This is a book, I'd recommend skipping since there are so many more interesting ones waiting to be read, and there is never enough time available to read all of the good ones!