Product Description

Adam Phillips explores mankind's ongoing fascination with ideas of escape, looking at the great Harry Houdini and a case history of a little girl obsessed with hide and seek; at the notoriously reclusive poet Emily Dickinson and a man who believes it is his destiny to always be in flight, whether from women or his analyst. This is Adam Phillips' most captivating book to date.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #155628 in Books
• Published on: 2002-11-18
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Escape, like all travel, is defined by departure points and destinations, inextricably bound yet with a flux between. Adam Phillips is concerned with that transitory space in Houdini's Box, a marvellous, beguiling treatise on our seemingly innate desire for flight. It opens with a short introductory chapter describing a young girl who sees Phillips, a psychotherapist, and plays a strange game of hide-and-seek that opens up complicated notions involving fear and desire of being "found". This leads into two parallel, interwoven narratives. One concerns the incomparable escapologist Houdini (though he preferred "mystifier"), and comprises a biographical footprint of this assimilated Jew, the immigrant "escapee". On the face of it, his performances were absurd, escaping from self-imposed bondage, leaving nothing changed. Yet, at the same time, everything was different, and the effect was akin to social hypnotism. The flip side was an equal passion for debunking and exposing self-styled spiritualists for the charlatans, or at least bad practitioners, they were. From some things there is no escape, as Houdini understood very well.

The second narrative follows Phillips' sessions with a middle-aged man who comes to him after badgering from his (ex-) girlfriend, who said she wanted to help "his next ex". He had no regard whatever for the things that mattered most to him, and chased women relentlessly so that he could run away from them. In Phillips' words, "the woman as object of desire had been replaced by flight from woman as an object of desire". Erudite, allusive and elusive, only when Phillips suggests, tellingly, that he is avoiding risk-taking by busying himself with choices, does he do what comes naturally, and take flight. It is escapism itself which is the most hypnotic, wielding the infinite freedom of potential, and which proves the hardest to escape from.

The final piece is a paper on Emily Dickinson, which, though brief, illuminatingly contrasts two poems written 15 years apart in which she dwelt on her voluntary confinement, and escape. There is certainly no escaping Phillips' dazzling talent. Drawing on mythology, psychotherapy theory, poetry and clinical experience, the author of On Kissing, Tickling and Being Bored and Darwin's Worms continues to imaginatively work the borders of psychotherapy and literature, and to write some of the most richly stimulating and creative prose around. Perhaps his most accessible work to date, this is escapist literature at its best. --David Vincent

Review
'Though Phillips' territory is complication, he reports back in the simplest of words. He is perhaps single-handedly continuing the tradition of the world's best essayists! Observer; 'A rare achievement - as remarkable a piece of work as Houdini ever performed himself; Daily Telegraph

Customer Reviews

Avoidance as a Clue to Motivation
Escape provides both hope and control. The pleasure of the escape can come to exceed the potential pleasure of what is being avoided. Psychotherapist Adam Phillips develops these themes in the context of Houdini's career, the attraction of his escapes for audiences, case histories such as those involving a five year-old girl who plays hide-and-seek in peculiar ways and a man who avoids women he is attracted to, mythology (Oedipus, Prometheus, Daedalus, Icarus, and Sisyphus), and literary characters (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Emily Dickinson).

The book's themes work best in the context of Houdini. The other examples provide context, but not nearly as much insight.

I was particularly interested to learn that the story I had heard about Houdini's death was wrong. He was challenged by a young man to take a punch in the abdomen, even though Houdini had never claimed to be invulnerable in this way. Houdini died a few days later of an internal infection probably caused by the blow. Apparently, he wanted to maintain the illusion of always being able to escape from danger . . . even when he knew of no way to do so.

Part way through the book, I began to consider my own avoidance behavior and got some good insights. Certainly, there are some things that are so attractive, this is best not to be tempted. Taking that step to remove temptation is certainly a sign of the degree of the temptation.

In general, I found the book interesting, but found that it had some serious drawbacks in its structure and focus. For example, there is discussion about prostitution, pornography, and avoiding sexual relations that is loosely tied back to Houdini's skills in escape illusions. I found the connections tenuous, not well made, sometimes puzzling, and of little interest. The discussions with patients are probably easy for a psychotherapist to follow, but I found them not very clear. I suspect that I would have enjoyed the book more without the patient sections. At the same time, the mythological references are mainly of value to someone who doesn't know the stories. For those who do, those sections become long and somewhat tedious.

Basically, the book needed to be edited down further and to connect the dots more.

At the same time, the section on Emily Dickinson could easily have been expanded.

If you know a lot of about psychological theories, this book will probably not add a lot for you. If you don't try very hard to avoid things, this book will probably not be very interesting.

For those who strenuously avoid and would like to know more, this is a pretty low-key introduction into seeing the possible meaning behind patterns of avoidance through self-questioning. What are the implications of your avoidance? Can you embrace what you care about in healthy ways? How well is your seeking out or avoiding behavior serving you and others?

Find ways to serve others, give love, and enjoy life!...

Avoidance as a Clue to Motivation
Psychotherapist Adam Phillips develops these title themes in the context of Houdini's career, the attraction of his escapes for audiences, case histories such as those involving a five year-old girl who plays hide-and-seek in peculiar ways and a man who avoids women he is attracted to, mythology (Oedipus, Prometheus, Daedalus, Icarus, and Sisyphus), and literary characters (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Emily Dickinson).

The book's themes work best in the context of Houdini. The other examples provide context, but not nearly as much insight. I was particularly interested to learn that the story I had heard about Houdini's death was wrong.

In general, I found the book interesting, but also felt that it had some serious drawbacks in its structure and focus. For example, there is discussion about prostitution, pornography, and avoiding sexual relations that is loosely tied back to Houdini's skills in escape illusions. I found the connections tenuous, not well made, sometimes puzzling, and of little interest.

The discussions with patients are probably easy for a psychotherapist to follow, but I found them not very clear. I suspect that I would have enjoyed the book more without the patient sections.

At the same time, the mythological references are mainly of value to someone who doesn't know the stories. For those who do, those sections become long and somewhat tedious.

Basically, the book needed to be edited down further and to connect the dots more. At the same time, the section on Emily Dickinson could easily have been expanded.

If you know a lot of about psychological theories, this book will probably not add a lot for you. If you don't try very hard to avoid things, this book will probably not be very interesting. For those who strenuously avoid and would like to know more, this is a pretty low-key introduction into seeing the possible meaning behind patterns of avoidance through self-questioning.

What are the implications of your avoidance? Can you embrace what you care about in healthy ways? How well is your seeking out or avoiding behavior serving you and others?

Find ways to serve others, give love, and enjoy life!