This text represents the exciting proceedings of the 54th annual meeting of the American Psychopathological Association. The title is a misnomer as it is not a textbook but a collection of provocative papers on this ubiquitous illness. The text is divided into six sections: "Phenomenology and Clinical Aspects," "Psychology," "Neurochemistry and Genetics," "Clinical Research," "Therapy and Diagnosis," and "Classification and Prognosis." Each section ends with a very brief transcript of the discussion which followed the original presentations. I am at a loss to understand why the names and addresses of the members of this organization are listed in the appendix.
This book, while it will be of special interest to psychiatrists, will fascinate all readers who wish to learn about an illness that was described 3,300 years ago. In spite of the mountain of data which has been accumulated, schizophrenia still represents an enigma, one which holds the key