Jung's The Red Book Is Set to Hit Bookstores

Are you looking to expand your collection of psychology books? Then you might want to check out an upcoming publication by one of the giants of psychology, Carl Jung. The famous Swiss psychiatrist began writing The Red Book in 1914, and continued to work on writing and illustrating the journal over the next 15 years. Apparently, the book has been kept secreted away for decades and had previously been glimpsed by just a few dozen people until Jung's heirs recently made the decision to have the journal published.

The New York Times recently published a substantial article on the publication of the book, which publisher W. W. Norton touts as the "most influential unpublished work in the history of psychology."

From The New York Times:

"The Red Book is not an easy journey -- it wasn't for Jung, it wasn't for his family, nor for Shamdasani, and neither will it be for readers. The book is bombastic, baroque and like so much else about Carl Jung, a willful oddity, synched with an antediluvian and mystical reality. The text is dense, often poetic, always strange. The art is arresting and also strange. Even today, its publication feels risky, like an exposure. But then again, it is possible Jung intended it as such. In 1959, after having left the book more or less untouched for 30 or so years, he penned a brief epilogue, acknowledging the central dilemma in considering the book's fate. "To the superficial observer," he wrote, "it will appear like madness." Yet the very fact he wrote an epilogue seems to indicate that he trusted his words would someday find the right audience."

The book will be published October 7, 2009 by W.W. Norton and Co. and can be pre-ordered from several online retailers: The Red Book (Compare prices)

More About Carl Jung:

• Carl Jung Biography
• Jung's Learning Styles
• Jung and Freud