Customer Reviews

Animal Guides: In Life, Myth and Dreams (Studies in Jungian Psychology By Jungian Analysts, 97)

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Neil Russack's book, "Animal Guides" was recommended to me by a therapist who works in dream analysis. There is much to be said for the author's book, but it takes some discipline to get through it.

After a bumpy start Russack settles down as he begins to describe his patients' dreams and he seems to be a man who speaks from a good deal of professional experience. He devotes many pages to his patients and his connections with him. There are some wonderful moments about elephants and horses and dragons....Russack comes into his fullest when describing an elderly woman who can barely speak and how she is dealing with the end of her life. There are some funny moments, too.....a colleague who measured his steps from his back office to the outside at lunchtime, leapt down stairs only to find his car ticketed each day. Therapists need therapists, as they say.

I came to the conclusion early on while reading this book that the author was more interested in talking about himself. There's nothing wrong with an autobiography but I had hoped for something
more detached from his personal life. A good textbook followed by a second book of a more personal nature would have established Russack in the public's eye. The author is not a great writer (and he needs a new editor!) but he spilled all his beans at once. Perhaps there is only one book in him.

The good thing to recommend about Neil Russack's book is that those who read it might find it easier to approach therapy. Once taboo, therapy has become an accepted life force for many of us.

If you're looking for a good, fun animal guide/dream book, this is NOT your book. If you're looking for an expansion of Jungian theory and some self-agrandizing from the author, you've come to the right place.

Neil Russack is the author of this book. Joseph L. Henderson wrote the Foreword -- so please put (Foreword) after his name.