The Journals of Ernest Becker, 1964-1969
Robert Kramer*
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: kramer{at}american.edu.
 |
Abstract |
|---|
Written from 1964 until 1969, the year in which Ernest Becker rediscovered the writings of Otto Rank, these journals offer a poignant answer to Beckers call to all of us, and most of all to himself, in his Pulitzer Prize–winning The Denial of Death (1973)— becoming "conscious of what one is doing to earn [ones] feeling of heroism is the main self-analytic problem of life." Reflecting on what he was doing to earn his own feeling of heroism, Becker offers in these journals glimmers of hope for the future impact of his work as well as a riveting self-analysis of his dreams and nightmares.