Granta 71: Shrinks

The talking cure, otherwise known as analysis or therapy. Invented Vienna, c. 1886. Most celebrated exponents: Sigmund Freud, Jerry Springer. Favorite question: “Can you tell me a little more about that?” Diseases to which normally addressed: unhappiness, personal torment. Efficacy: contested. Effect on the written word: vast. This issue of Granta is devoted to the kinks and twists of the human mind, and their treatments.