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Schopenhauer’s Porcupines: Intimacy and Its Dilemmas.
Luepnitz, Deborah Anna (author).
Apr. 2002. 272p. Basic, hardcover, $25 (0-465-04286-4). 616.89.
REVIEW.
First published March 1, 2002 (Booklist).
The title says something about individual and family therapist Luepnitz’s sense of humor and her wish to appeal to a broad audience. In the first case she reports, well-educated, artistic Daphne and her truckdriver husband, Karl, argue--supposedly--about having a second child; Luepnitz describes the changing stages of their relationship with refreshing candor, as if they were persons and not merely patients. Judith Kaplan, an 11-year-old diabetic, is Luepnitz’s second subject, and her case shows the value of family sessions; Luepnitz’s engaging ability to tell a joke on herself surfaces when she, a Catholic, offers to shake hands with Judith’s father, an orthodox rabbi. The remaining stories tell of a self-contained Don Juan with commitment problems to himself as well as his girlfriends, an African American woman professor, and a single mother and her child, two of Luepnitz’s earliest patients. Luepnitz loves her work, writes clearly, and, especially when she discusses, directly or indirectly, her techniques, produces an engaging and informative book for patients, therapists, and those who enjoy well-told stories. — William Beatty
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