Dr. Johnson s contribution is a most impressive and unusual work. It represents a post-modernist attempt to organize and unify some of the disparate theoretical and clinical trends in current psychoanalysis, psychotherapy, infant development research, and family therapy. As the cursor of attention has begun to fall of late on the narcissistic and borderline personality disorders, the whole field of personality and character seems to be overdue for reconsideration. This is exactly what Dr. Johnson has innovatively accomplished in this work. James S. Grotstein, M.D., Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, University of California Los Angeles School of Medicine Training and Supervising Analyst, Los Angeles Psychoanalytic Institute