On Balance

Description

Are we too obsessed with excess? What can childhood teach us about bad behaviour? And should we be happy, or is there something better we might be?

In On Balance, acclaimed psychoanalyst Adam Phillips explores a variety of urgent concerns related to how we attempt to manage our conflicting desires, needs and motives. In essays on excess, childhood development, fairy tales and the pursuit of happiness, Phillips provides exhilarating arguments, witty wordplay and much intellectual and emotional food for thought on literature and life.

Author description

Adam Phillips is a psychoanalyst and a visiting professor in the English department at the University of York. He is the author of several previous volumes, all widely acclaimed, including On Kissing, Tickling and Being Bored, Going Sane and Side Effects. His most recent book is On Kindness, which was co-written with historian Barbara Taylor.