The Monkey King's Used Primate Emporium and Book Reviews

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Ralph Steadman, "Sigmund Freud"

Started March 28 � Finished March 28, 2002; 118 pages. Posted 29 March 2002

What a weird little book. Ralph Steadman, famed illustrator of �Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,� does a biography of sorts of Freud�s analyses of humor, and then accentuates the point with his monstrous drawings.

This is the first thing by Steadman that I�ve read where he does a significant amount of writing, and I�m pleased to say he�s pretty damn good at it. It�s good to know not all of Hunter�s friends are hacks like Oscar Zeta Acosta. I�m sure it�s a hell of a lot more readable than Freud�s own �Jokes and their Relation to the Unconscious,� where Steadman takes his source material.

I don�t have much more to say about this � maybe I should talk some more about my crazy ex-girlfriends.

I had one who insisted she was possessed by demons. She even did weird voices over the phone. �We�ve got Julie!� she�d say in a goofy growl. Later, when I think she knew I was pretty sick of playing along, she stated that she had found the source of evil.

Have you seen those really stupid ceramic masks from the 80s that had things like musical notes painted over the eyes and forehead? She had about ten of those hanging on the wall. In a very dramatic performance she slowly took one off the hook and placed it in a box in her closet.

�You think the demons won�t be able to reach you from beyond your closet door?� I said. �Why don�t you just throw them out?

She didn�t answer, instead taking the second one down and walking slowly and deliberately to the closet where she dropped it on top of the first mask. It shattered upon impact.

She suddenly had a look on her face that said, �Oh fuck, my mom�s gonna kill me! These cost about 30 bucks each!�

She noticed that I was watching, very interested in her reaction. �Good,� she said finally. She then very carefully took the rest of the masks down and placed them gently in the box.

One more thing. There are usually two camps of psychology that people align themselves to � Sigmund Freud or Carl Jung. I�m firmly in the Jung camp and this biography just reaffirms that. Freud�s sense of humor was apparently very dry and more often that not, it wasn�t very funny. But Jung had the best joke of the book. Apparently, the two were conversing and Freud suddenly glared at Jung. �Damn it man!� he said, �Have you just farted?�

Jung replied, �Of course I have. Do you think I always smell this way?�


Rating: Worth New.

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