Examines modern controversies over Freud and Freudian thought while questioning the theory of infantile sexuality and showing where Freud consistently misdiagnosed his patients and failed to make his claimed cures.

A revisionist look at one of the most controversial philosophers of the 20th century. Few figures have had so decisive and fundamental an influence on the course of modern cultural history as Sigmund Freud. Yet few figures also have inspired such intense controversy and continued debate. Our notions of identity, memory, childhood, sexuality, and, most generally, of meaning have been shaped in relation to and often in opposition to Freud's work.