Dostoyevsky's Stalker and Other Essays on Psychopathology and the Arts

In Dostoyevsky's Stalker, we discover how the arts may illuminate psychiatry and psychoanalysis, as well as how these disciplines may elucidate works of literature, art, and cinema. Examining a diversity of authors, artists, historical figures, and psychopaths over the course of modern history, this groundbreaking collection of essays proposes a paradigm shift in psychiatry, based on the idea that some symptoms of mental illness may have constructive uses and may be used by the sufferer for mental and spiritual growth instead of going untreated or else being "analyzed away."

About the Author

Michael Sperber , M.D., is the author of Henry David Thoreau: Cycles and Psyche and the co-editor (with Lissy F. Jarvik, M.D., Ph.D.) of Psychiatry and Genetics: Psychosocial, Ethical and Legal Considerations . Dr. Sperber trained in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, where he taught for many years. He has also taught in the honors program, Department of Social Relations, Harvard College, and is currently psychiatric consultant to the Neuropsychiatry / Behavioral Neurology Service at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts.