The Americanization of narcissism

378 Pages·2013·1.019 MB·English

by  Lunbeck, Elizabeth

The AMERICANIZATION
of NARCISSISM

T h e
AMERICA N IZ ATI ON
o f NARCISSISM
Elizabeth Lunbeck
Harvard University Press
Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England 2014
Copyright © 2014 by Elizabeth Lunbeck
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-i n- Publication Data
Lunbeck, Elizabeth.
The Americanization of narcissism / Elizabeth Lunbeck.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978- 0-6 74- 72486- 0
1. Narcissism— United States. 2. United States— Social
conditions. 3. United States— Social life and customs.
4. Social values— United States. I. Title.
BF575.N35L86 2014
158.2—dc23
2013034742
To the memory of John W. Cell
1935–2001
First and best teacher

CONTENTS
Introduction 1
I. Narcissism in the Me Dec ade 9
1. The Culture of Narcissism 11
2. Heinz Kohut’s American Freud 37
3. Otto Kernberg’s Narcissistic Dystopia 59
II. Dimensions of Narcissism from Freud
to the Me Decade and Beyond 81
4. Self-L ove 83
5. In de pen dence 113
6. Vanity 138
7. Gratifi cation 165
8. Inaccessibility 202
9. Identity 224
Conclusion: Narcissism Today 252
Abbreviations 273
Notes 276
Ac know ledg ments 352
Index 355

The AMERICANIZATION
of NARCISSISM