Product details: - Hardcover: 224 pages, 1 Edition
- Author: Glen Gabbard, Glen O. Gabbard
- Publisher: Basic Books
- Publication Date: 2002-07
- Release Date: 2002-07-09
- Studio: Basic Books
- Manufacturer: Basic Books
- Package Dimensions: 8.4 x 50 x 75 inches
A renowned psychoanalyst takes a hard and humorous look at the psyches of America's favorite mob family--and our own. Some have called it "The Sopranos Effect"--the quiet that descends just before a new episode of the hit TV series is aired. Stores are deserted, restaurants quiet--and for patients of distinguished psychoanalyst and author Glen Gabbard, desperate calls for help go unreturned. Why, Dr. Gabbard wondered, have the misadventures of a middle-aged thug won the largest audience in HBO history? What is it about the characters and their relationships that draws us in so completely? What can we learn about ourselves from going inside the heads of these outlaws from New Jersey? In The Psychology of the Sopranos Dr. Gabbard draws on his vast professional experience (and his near-obsessive preoccupation with Tony's two "families") to delve into the psychology of the characters, the show's depiction of therapy, and how "The Sopranos" dramatically showcases the psychological ambiguities and conflicts in our own lives. Indeed, part of the show's popularity, he argues, is the spotlight it throws on viewers' psychological issues--from panic attacks and existential angst to codes of honor and moral indiscretions. With his tongue planted only lightly in his cheek, Gabbard poses the questions so many of us have pondered on Monday mornings: Is Tony's therapy working? And how is it possible for him and his "families" to reconcile the mundane and the monstrous? His answers will surprise and delight loyal fans. This book was not prepared, licensed, approved, or endorsed by any entity involved in creating or producing the "Sopranos" television series. Mafia don Tony Soprano, his family, his work "associates," and his therapist, Dr. Jennifer Melfi, have captured the imagination (and the fanatical devotion) of more than 11 million viewers. The show has garnered rave reviews for its writing and acting and has won a loyal following of educated viewers, who appreciate the sharp wit, the Machiavellian plot turns, and the Shakespearean character development of this extraordinarily well-crafted drama. Find the answers in The Psychology of the Sopranos: Is Tony a psychopath--or is he an American everyman putting bread on the table in the best way he knows how? Is Livia a modern-day Medea or a victim caught in mob mentality? Is Carmella an accomplice or an innocent? Who's more corrupt, Tony Soprano or Father Phil? Is Tony doomed to desire women who make him feel as bad as Mom did? Can a man who commits bad acts still teach his children to be good? Customer reviews:  Full of mistakes, 2010-08-08
A large number of obvious mistakes about the plot make the book a very irritating read.
 Surprising, 2010-05-13
Why surprising? Because here and there, Psychoanalysis in America was supposed to be absent. "The Sopranos" is a strong objection to this: the series begins with a session, and in a very Freudian-Lacanian atmosphere: the waiting room of the analyst. Now, Dr Gabbard has been the first without a doubt, to write unambiguously (p.59): "Nowhere in American cinema or television have audiences ever witnessed the erotic tension that emerges in therapy handled so credibly."
Why? Because this "tension" has the name of "transference", and it exists so far as it continues existing as pure tension, the tension of a void. This void is what opens the window of difference between desire and the structure of desire. Tony has the opportunity to see some light in this gap, and this is the cause for him to continue his analysis. As a matter of fact, only analysis gives us something more real than the crude reality of crime and evil, only psychoanalysis has ventured its exploration in this field. "There is nothing more humane than crime" wrote Jacques-Alain Miller. And Dr Gabbard writes in p. 77 of his book: "Psychoanalytic treatment is not practices in an ambiance of "either/or"--treatment always takes place in the land of "both/and".
Why only 3 stars for this good book? Because it stills uses "old terminology", side by side in recognizing the "Shakespearean" aura of "The Sopranos", old terminology as "psychopath", "sociopath", etc. Tony is a criminal, but also a criminal with a profound ethical sensibility. Dr Gabbard's book, even in utilizing these disconcerting terms, goes between its own lines sometimes, and I may recommend its reading, with the advice of trying to "see" and "read" a little bit beyond those psychiatric, "mental health" boundaries .
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