Houdini's Box : The Art of Escape

Rating:
Summary: Avoidance as a Clue to Motivation
Review: ....Psychotherapist Adam Phillips develops these themes in the context of Houdini's career, the attraction of his escapes for audiences, case histories such as those involving a five year-old girl who plays hide-and-seek in peculiar ways and a man who avoids women he is attracted to, mythology (Oedipus, Prometheus, Daedalus, Icarus, and Sisyphus), and literary characters (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Emily Dickinson).

The book's themes work best in the context of Houdini. The other examples provide context, but not nearly as much insight. I was particularly interested to learn that the story I had heard about Houdini's death was wrong. ....

In general, I found the book interesting, but found that it had some serious drawbacks in its structure and focus. For example, there is discussion about prostitution, pornography, and avoiding sexual relations that is loosely tied back to Houdini's skills in escape illusions. I found the connections tenuous, not well made, sometimes puzzling, and of little interest.

The discussions with patients are probably easy for a psychotherapist to follow, but I found them not very clear. I suspect that I would have enjoyed the book more without the patient sections.

At the same time, the mythological references are mainly of value to someone who doesn't know the stories. For those who do, those sections become long and somewhat tedious.

Basically, the book needed to be edited down further and to connect the dots more. At the same time, the section on Emily Dickinson could easily have been expanded.

If you know a lot of about psychological theories, this book will probably not add a lot for you. If you don't try very hard to avoid things, this book will probably not be very interesting. For those who strenuously avoid and would like to know more, this is a pretty low-key introduction into seeing the possible meaning behind patterns of avoidance through self-questioning.

What are the implications of your avoidance? Can you embrace what you care about in healthy ways? How well is your seeking out or avoiding behavior serving you and others?

Find ways to serve others, give love, and enjoy life!

Rating:
Summary: An excellent Sunday on my back porch.
Review: Both the fan of magic and the psychotherapist in me read Houdini's Box ---- with our feet propped up on the back porch railing, on a September Sunday afternoon.

The psychotherapist in me respects Adam Phillips' way of provoking thought without claiming any corner on "the truth." (If you like being introspective about the human psyche, this is a good one.) But mostly, the fan of magic enjoyed Phillips' take on Harry Houdini. There is little doubt that Houdini would be proud to be receiving so much attention 75 years after his death, but I think he would especially like becoming an archetype for the human condition.

If your taste runs toward mixing introspection with entertainment, and if you are curious to discover what you may have in common with "the great mystifyer," the two of me definitely recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Old and not-great at that
Review: Was there a time when this was the stuff I believed actually healed people? After an intensive period of reading books on the brain and its neurochemical 'ecosystem' capacities- this book was a bit of an escape for me. The book is short and the concept simple- just not a real powerful theme.
This was a relatively simple concept- the escape process- from either real or imagined stimuli. Whether we are attempting to evade the unconscious or conscious stimuli, the process itself can become addictive. It isn't hard to include Houdini in this concept, and the parts that substantiate fact with theory remain persuasive whenever he is part of the examples. The other people, famous and not that were included were harder to incorporate. Emily Dickinson's late life retreat into solitude-while it was escape, was just limp in comparison. Too many mysteries about Dickinson's personality and psyche seem to require clarification before she can be attached into any metaphorical framework.
Still, it is an interesting little novelty of a book and has an element of cautionary charm. It is not controversial-but is it relevant? As many mental health professionals are exploring reverentially the biochemical, and evolutionary nature of consciousness, memory and mental illness- there is that notion of "Here we go again! Buying everything hook line and sinker." Hearing some of the voices of past-glorious psychoanalytical solemnity, was a bit of a kick!