The Creation of Dr B: A Biography of Bruno Bettelheim

Hailed as a monument to scrupulous investigative reporting by The Washington Post, this highly critical portrait of one of the most revered psychologists of this century raises important questions about Bruno Bettelheim's integrity - both as a therapist and a man. Drawing on Bettelheim's unpublished papers and more than 225 interviews with his professional associates, former patients and their parents, Richard Pollak exposes a man whose much-touted success in treating schizophrenic and autistic children was based on false statistics conjured up to enhance his own reputation. Pollak offers substantial proof that portions of Bettelheim's masterwork, The Uses of Enchantment, were plagiarized.