Mayhem

"An art exhibition in which a curator showcases the history of her son's life. A whole country caught up in anxiety over its meaning. A disappearing act by the show's provocative organisers." "Observing it all, a psychoanalyst - the hero of Christopher Bollas's previous novellas - incensed by the latest trends in therapy: 'funeralism', a means to decide when relationships should be officially killed off, and 'clone-analysis', which claims to analyse the dead through 'necromantic empathy'. Often led by his unconscious into the uncanny, the psychoanalyst finds himself moving haphazardly about his own life - from an unsettling analysis to a deeply embarrassing sexual situation, from a restrained study group to the unexpected 'yelling cure' of a public rally." "From the material of human un-ease, Mayhem weaves a design of the comic-absurd. The novella's anarchic movement perfectly embodies its theme, charting a course through deeply disturbing yet incredibly funny territory."--BOOK JACKET.Christopher Bollas is the author of 'Mayhem', published 2006 under ISBN 9781853439285 and ISBN 1853439282.