Gambling, Game, and Psyche (Suny Series in Psychoanalysis and Culture) [Paperback]

Bettina L. Knapp (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1999 | Series: Suny Series in Psychoanalysis and Culture

Bettina Knapp adds a new spin on the study of gambling as she explores both sides of the coin-the rush and thrill of risk taking versus the depression and defeat of losing. In a unique Jungian approach, Knapp probes the universal and eternal mysteries that lady luck herself offers to humanity's never-ending quest to defy destiny. While games of chance and of skill have held universal appeal throughout the ages, here Knapp adds a new dimension by exploring the psyches and the cultures of their players. In each of the book's nine chapters, she examines a different type of gambling as evidenced in Western and Eastern tradition through the literary works of Aleichem, Balzac, Dostoevsky, Hesse, Kawabata, Pascal, Poe, Serao, and Zhang. This scrutiny shows both the diversity and universality of each culture as she takes the literary works out of their individual contexts and relates them to humankind in general. Through an examination of seven different cultures-American, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Russian-she shows the effects of gambling on individuals and groups of players as well as its impact on the family and society.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bettina L. Knapp is Professor at Hunter College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York, in the departments of Romance Languages, Comparative Literature, and Women's Studies. The author of many books including A Jungian Approach to Literature, and two SUNY Press books, Women in Myth and Women, Myth, and the Feminine Principle, she is also a Knight in the Order of Arts and Letters, an honor presented by the French government.

Product Details

• Paperback: 308 pages
• Publisher: State Univ of New York Pr; First Edition edition (November 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0791443841
• ISBN-13: 978-0791443842
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,271,178 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Warning--not the book that the title/description suggest!, December 13, 2001

By 

C. Pippin (La Quinta, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gambling, Game, and Psyche (Suny Series in Psychoanalysis and Culture) (Paperback)

I picked this book up thinking that it was about the psychology of gamblers and gaming, and was ultimately disappointed. This is a book about literature, authors, and fictional characters, and there is no real psychology or non-fictional content about gambling at all! Knapp devotes each of nine chapters to a different author and a specific character from that author's work. All of these characters happen to be gamblers, but even the use of "gambler" is loosely defined--some of the characters could be better classified as "people who make a decision with some risk." Most of the book's content thus focuses upon the nine authors, and how they created these characters in their works.

Perhaps if I had been a student of literature, I might have found this book interesting. However, as a reader who was looking for insight into the psychology of gambling, I was extremely disappointed, and, frankly, quite bored by this book.