Abend applies his considerable psychoanalytic scholarship, as well as his long clinical experience, to making a thorough, careful, and complete presentation of Freud's essential ideas-- which is something not to be taken for granted: important elements of Freud's work are all too often misunderstood or overlooked elsewhere. Abend never talks down to the reader; he does not shy away from detail and complexity. At the same time, he makes his presentation clearly and with a deceptive simplicity, so that it is always easy reading.

Abend's format is to trace the...