Reviews" Blown Away is the most aptly titled book I've ever read. No one can read this account of a son's death and the father's aftermath without experiencing it as a life-altering event. Not since Augustine's Confessions has a memoir been at the same time a pathbreaking work of philosophy. Boothby takes us from the confrontation with incalculable loss to a meditation on the centrality of absence for living a genuine life. He has converted his despair into a transformative work for everyone who picks it up." --Todd McGowan, author of Universality and Identity Politics " Blown Away is a remarkable account of grief and recovery--searing, heartfelt, profoundly honest, and dare I say, interesting. The best writing is always, at the core, exploration. This is an epic excavation. What's most satisfying here is the hyper-focus of the lens, the recalibration that cumulatively allows us to come to a new understanding of the experiential world of evolving self-awareness, loss, and finally love." --Karen Fish, author of No Chronology "It is not easy to write exactingly about the suicide of a loved one, nor the personal revelations that unfold in a rigorous psychoanalysis. Richard Boothby has miraculously managed both, showing us how the tears in the fabric of our being need not be covered over with sentimental fantasies in order to live again, but can become the ground for a new way of knowing what can never be known in any life. I was, to make the difficult pun, blown away by this book." --Jamieson Webster, author of Conversion Disorder and coauthor of Stay, Illusion! Praise for Freud as Philosopher : "It is in books like this that we should look for the renaissance of American thought! If the term 'classic' has any meaning today, Freud as Philosopher is it!" --Slavoj Zizek "Many have tried to uncover the philosophical underpinnings of Freudian psychoanalysis, but none has succeeded so convincingly as does Richard Boothby...This remarkably insightful thesis is brilliantly and lucidly argued in a book that will make a permanent difference in all future readings of Freud and Lacan." --Edward Casey, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Praise for Freud as Philosopher : "Many have tried to uncover the philosophical underpinnings of Freudian psychoanalysis, but none has succeeded so convincingly as does Richard Boothby...This remarkably insightful thesis is brilliantly and lucidly argued in a book that will make a permanent difference in all future readings of Freud and Lacan." --Edward Casey, State University of New York at Stony Brook "A book all those seriously interested in Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan were waiting for...It is in books like this that we should look for the renaissance of the American thought! If the term 'classic' has any meaning today, Freud as Philosopher is it!" --Slavoj Zizek, " Blown Away is the most aptly titled book I've ever read. No one can read this account of a son's death and the father's aftermath without experiencing it as a life-altering event. Not since Augustine's Confessions has a memoir been at the same time a pathbreaking work of philosophy. Boothby takes us from the confrontation with incalculable loss to a meditation on the centrality of absence for living a genuine life. He has converted his despair into a transformative work for everyone who picks it up." --Todd McGowan, author of Universality and Identity Politics " Blown Away is a remarkable account of grief and recovery--searing, heartfelt, profoundly honest, and dare I say, interesting. The best writing is always, at the core, exploration. This is an epic excavation. What's most satisfying here is the hyper-focus of the lens, the recalibration that cumulatively allows us to come to a new understanding of the experiential world of evolving self-awareness, loss, and finally love." --Karen Fish, author of No Chronology "It is not easy to write exactingly about the suicide of a loved one, nor the personal revelations that unfold in a rigorous psychoanalysis. Richard Boothby has miraculously managed both, showing us how the tears in the fabric of our being need not be covered over with sentimental fantasies in order to live again, but can become the ground for a new way of knowing what can never be known in any life. I was, to make the difficult pun, blown away by this book." --Jamieson Webster, author of Conversion Disorder and coauthor of Stay, Illusion! "This book is the moving story of a father describing his feelings and his numbness after Oliver, his son from his first marriage, dies by suicide. His new wife has the empathy and the generosity to let Richard visit Elaine, the mother of his dead son. Richard and Elaine reconnect in their joint grief over Oliver's death. The book is well written and makes one feel as if one is reading a Dostoevsky tragedy." --Wilfried Ver Eecke, author of Breaking through Schizophrenia: Lacan and Hegel for Talk Therapy Praise for Freud as Philosopher : "It is in books like this that we should look for the renaissance of American thought! If the term 'classic' has any meaning today, Freud as Philosopher is it!" --Slavoj Zizek "Many have tried to uncover the philosophical underpinnings of Freudian psychoanalysis, but none has succeeded so convincingly as does Richard Boothby...This remarkably insightful thesis is brilliantly and lucidly argued in a book that will make a permanent difference in all future readings of Freud and Lacan." --Edward Casey, State University of New York at Stony Brook, " Blown Away is the most aptly titled book I've ever read. No one can read this account of a son's death and the father's aftermath without experiencing it as a life-altering event. Not since Augustine's Confessions has a memoir been at the same time a pathbreaking work of philosophy. Boothby takes us from the confrontation with incalculable loss to a meditation on the centrality of absence for living a genuine life. He has converted his despair into a transformative work for everyone who picks it up." --Todd McGowan, author of Universality and Identity Politics " Blown Away is a remarkable account of grief and recovery--searing, heartfelt, profoundly honest, and dare I say, interesting. The best writing is always, at the core, exploration. This is an epic excavation. What's most satisfying here is the hyper-focus of the lens, the recalibration that cumulatively allows us to come to a new understanding of the experiential world of evolving self-awareness, loss, and finally love." --Karen Fish, author of No Chronology "It is not easy to write exactingly about the suicide of a loved one, nor the personal revelations that unfold in a rigorous psychoanalysis. Richard Boothby has miraculously managed both, showing us how the tears in the fabric of our being need not be covered over with sentimental fantasies in order to live again, but can become the ground for a new way of knowing what can never be known in any life. I was, to make the difficult pun, blown away by this book." --Jamieson Webster, author of Conversion Disorder and coauthor of Stay, Illusion! "The book is well written and makes one feel as if one is reading a Dostoevsky tragedy." --Wilfried Ver Eecke, author of Breaking through Schizophrenia: Lacan and Hegel for Talk Therapy "An immensely moving tale...Trenchantly and crisply told, this tale will shake your foundations. It did mine." --C. Edward Robins, STD, PhD, Clinical Director of Dr. Robins & Associates, New York City "In a narrative as sparklingly insightful as it is excruciatingly heartrending, Richard Boothby tells the riveting story of how he has survived the unsurvivable. Devastated by his son Oliver's addiction-precipitated suicide, this philosopher, one of the world's greatest Lacanian thinkers, was forced by personal tragedy to re-examine not only the intimate details of his life history, but also fundamental ideas about knowledge, love, death, and even God. Like Boothby himself, those who traverse this memoir will gain a hard-won new appreciation of what truly matters in life." --Adrian Johnston, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, University of New Mexico Praise for Freud as Philosopher : "It is in books like this that we should look for the renaissance of American thought! If the term 'classic' has any meaning today, Freud as Philosopher is it!" --Slavoj Zizek "Many have tried to uncover the philosophical underpinnings of Freudian psychoanalysis, but none has succeeded so convincingly as does Richard Boothby...This remarkably insightful thesis is brilliantly and lucidly argued in a book that will make a permanent difference in all future readings of Freud and Lacan." --Edward Casey, State University of New York at Stony Brook, "Our deepest grief can be a moment of profound self-understanding. Richard Boothby wrestles with this paradox in this honest, intelligent memoir, a testament to the powers of analysis in the face of uncommon pain." --Stéphane Gerson, author of Disaster Falls: A Family Story " Blown Away is the most aptly titled book I've ever read. No one can read this account of a son's death and the father's aftermath without experiencing it as a life-altering event. Not since Augustine's Confessions has a memoir been at the same time a pathbreaking work of philosophy. Boothby takes us from the confrontation with incalculable loss to a meditation on the centrality of absence for living a genuine life. He has converted his despair into a transformative work for everyone who picks it up." --Todd McGowan, author of Universality and Identity Politics " Blown Away is a remarkable account of grief and recovery--searing, heartfelt, profoundly honest, and dare I say, interesting. The best writing is always, at the core, exploration. This is an epic excavation. What's most satisfying here is the hyper-focus of the lens, the recalibration that cumulatively allows us to come to a new understanding of the experiential world of evolving self-awareness, loss, and finally love." --Karen Fish, author of No Chronology "It is not easy to write exactingly about the suicide of a loved one, nor the personal revelations that unfold in a rigorous psychoanalysis. Richard Boothby has miraculously managed both, showing us how the tears in the fabric of our being need not be covered over with sentimental fantasies in order to live again, but can become the ground for a new way of knowing what can never be known in any life. I was, to make the difficult pun, blown away by this book." --Jamieson Webster, author of Conversion Disorder and coauthor of Stay, Illusion! "The book is well written and makes one feel as if one is reading a Dostoevsky tragedy." --Wilfried Ver Eecke, author of Breaking through Schizophrenia: Lacan and Hegel for Talk Therapy "An immensely moving tale...Trenchantly and crisply told, this tale will shake your foundations. It did mine." --C. Edward Robins, STD, PhD, Clinical Director of Dr. Robins & Associates, New York City "In a narrative as sparklingly insightful as it is excruciatingly heartrending, Richard Boothby tells the riveting story of how he has survived the unsurvivable. Devastated by his son Oliver's addiction-precipitated suicide, this philosopher, one of the world's greatest Lacanian thinkers, was forced by personal tragedy to re-examine not only the intimate details of his life history, but also fundamental ideas about knowledge, love, death, and even God. Like Boothby himself, those who traverse this memoir will gain a hard-won new appreciation of what truly matters in life." --Adrian Johnston, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, University of New Mexico "Balanced between compelling story and a brilliant form, Blown Away leads us through Boothby's mourning work and, yes, to the wisdom and growth that can come from loss." --Thomas Brockelman, author of Diving for Pearls: Exploring Philosophy with My Father Praise for Freud as Philosopher : "It is in books like this that we should look for the renaissance of American thought! If the term 'classic' has any meaning today, Freud as Philosopher is it!" --Slavoj Zizek "Many have tried to uncover the philosophical underpinnings of Freudian psychoanalysis, but none has succeeded so convincingly as does Richard Boothby...This remarkably insightful thesis is brilliantly and lucidly argued in a book that will make a permanent difference in all future readings of Freud and Lacan." --Edward Casey, State University of New York at Stony Brook
Dewey Edition23