A Way of Looking at Things

Erik H. Erikson's way of looking at things has vastly enriched our understanding of human development and the nature of man. This gathering of his previously uncollected writings reflects the evolution of his ideas over the course of fifty years, beginning with his earliest experiences in psychoanalysis in Vienna.

The papers cover a wide spectrum of topics, from children's play and child psychoanalysis to the dreams of adults, crosscultural observations, young adulthood, and the life cycle to reminiscences about colleagues such as Anna Freud and Ruth Benedict who have played important roles in Erikson's life and work.

"The language [Erikson] invented—of 'identity,' 'identity crisis,' and 'the life cycle'—has become the principal American form of thinking about adolescence and, beyond this, about the widest range of adult trials and tribulations. . . . [This book] allows us to watch Mr. Erikson as he developed ideas that were to become cornerstones of American thinking about the self." —Sherry Turkle, New York Times Book Review

Stephen Schlein is a clinical psychologist at the Cambridge Hospital of Harvard Medical School, where he is a teacher and supervisor in the department of psychology and at the Erik and Joan Erikson Center.

1995 / paperback / ISBN 0-393-31314-X / 816 pages / PSYCHOLOGY

• Erik H. Erikson's distinguished books include Childhood and Society, Young Man Luther, and Gandhi's Truth. All are available in Norton paperback editions.