Lipton’s Journal/Introduction: Difference between revisions

[[w:Robert Lindner|Robert Lindner]]’s ''Prescription for Rebellion: A Reinterpretation of Psychoanalysis'', his impassioned 1952 attack on the profession for encouraging patients to adjust rather than rebel.{{efn|Dr. Lindner’s fourth book was published by Rinehart and Co., on May 27, 1952. His first book, ''Rebel Without a Cause: The Hypnoanalysis of a Criminal Psychopath'' (1944) was sold to Warner Brothers and made into a 1955 film of the same title starring James Dean, although the title is the only connection to the book. Lindner wrote of edited a total of seven books. His last, posthumous book, ''Must You Conform?'' came out on May 1, 1956.}} Mailer felt a shock of recognition when he read Lindner’s contention that rebellion was humanity’s instinctive response to societal repression. While honoring Freud and his followers, Lindner believed that psychoanalysts had misused and blunted the tools of analysis. Skepticism, unfocused anger, and a quiver of neuroses were assets, not liabilities, and should be celebrated, not discouraged. Rinehart published Lindner’s book, and Mailer was sent a copy. He read it right after it appeared, and wrote Lindner [[Lipton’s Journal/Correspondence of Robert Lindner and Norman Mailer|a long letter a few weeks later]], praising the book’s thesis, but complaining that Lindner failed to identify with any precision what was wrong with society, what actions and inactions were inciting resistance. Both Mailer and Lindner were disheartened by the dull fog of conformity that was rolling over the nation during the Eisenhower era, but they didn’t see eye to eye on what acts of intransigence might help to dissipate it. For example, Lindner did not recognize marijuana as a tool of liberation, while Mailer believed it was a magical drug that purged docility and opened up possibilities for movement and growth. Nevertheless, their correspondence burgeoned into a warm friendship, and for several years they corresponded, talked regularly on the phone, and exchanged visits until early 1956, when Lindner died of congestive heart disease. Mailer sent Lindner chunks of the journal and Lindner sent back responses that further stimulated Mailer, who called their dialogue “inter-fecundation.” On some matters, Lindner felt that Mailer was on to something important, while on others, he was more concerned about what the drugs were doing to his friend’s mind and his behavior. He was aware that Mailer was a gifted thinker, but he knew enough to see the signs of a man on the edge of paranoia. After their initial letters and meetings, and because of their mutual respect and admiration, Lindner and Mailer became steadfast friends, and with time, Lindner became an internal other for Mailer.