Customer Reviews

Father Hunger: Explorations with Adults and Children

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Herzog's book shows him to encourage severe regressions with his patients, to poetic, moving and -- though it makes me uncomfortable to write this -- convincing effect. Herzog implies that homosexuality is a symptom of father hunger, at least for heterosexual men, and his evocative and elusive text makes a good case. Because Herzog is clearly a Winnicottian, he is untouched by the broader social perspective of, say, the interpersonalists. This is unfortunate but by no means takes away from his achievement. This book needs to be critiqued, but it also needs to be read. Those who have fled the Freudian perspective would do well to look here to see what an original, compassionate, and brave soul can do with the most painful, destructive, and frightening areas of self that other therapies neglect, avoid, or explain away.

This exploration of father hunger begins with the painful stories of children and ends with the transformation of those stories into journeys of hope and personal discovery. Dr. Herzog lets the children lead the way in his sessions with them, and he organizes his book around their words and play. From a seven year old opera singer's immersion in her father's holocaust history to an eight year old boy's confrontation with the meanings of masculinity in his struggle with a make-believe lion, these patients emerge from suffering through creative play with a sensitive, adventurous analyst. Dr. Herzog deserves high praise for his insistent pursuit of the painful parts of his own past as important clues to his patients' experiences. And yet, we come away from this book in awe of the patients. Where in the psychoanalytic literature can we claim to find the same? This is an original and inspiring book.

Herzog is both an explorer and a guide, accompanying people into the deepest, often most frightening, parts of themselves. His work with patients not only speaks to the power of deep therapeutic experience with an open, real and honest therapist, but to the hope that is possible for those who have suffered terrible trauma, provided that they have someone loyal and steadfast to join them.

Herzog does not shy away from the hard issues surrounding gender, homosexuality, aggression and violence. His writing is evocative, at times speaking directly, at times informing by including the reader in the experience of his relationships with his patients.

Finally, "Father Hunger" is not only a must read for therapists, and a must read for all who care deeply about fathers and fathering. This is a book that helps the reader know the value of having, and of being, a father.