This book, in its third edition, is Reich's attempt to account for the failure of Marxism to spot and deal with the evolution of nationalistic Fascism that tore the world apart for 12 years or so. In doing so, he redefines the Marxist proletariat man, an entity modified by the industrial revolution into the democratic working man.

The main difficulty with the book is its poor translation into English. The translator keeps German syntax and as a result it cannot really be read as English. The introduction, however, is fairly lucid and expresses in precis most of the gist of the book.

Reich asserts a big truth here when he says that every man has a fascist inside begging to be set free. Economic and social crises bring these impulses to the fore; all it takes is a demagogue who can ignite our ubiquitous, paternalistic and authoritarian impulses to murder into a mass movement. Re-read GW Bush's state of the union message for clues as to where his cadre is leading us.

I first read this book in 1947. It had been recommended to me by a maverick sociologist. Fascinated from the first page on, I carried it with me on trolley cars, in subways and to class until finishing it. I was awestruck. Bridging the gap, and the seeming contradictions, between Freud and Marx, I could see Reich going beyond either. The book set me on a path that I've pursued for over 50 years, through sociobiology, shamanism, alchemy, medicine and martial arts. Reich's biographer entitles his book "Fury on Earth." For me,"Mass Psychology of Fascism" was a first step into that fury.

Wilhelm Reich was many things in his lifetime- a student of Freud, a political activist, a research scientist, and an inventor. His work was decades ahead of its time and is finally being rediscovered and reevaluated by the public. If, like me, you are interested in Reich and his work, you might want to check out a novel called We All Fall Down, by Brian Caldwell. it draws heavily on Reich's theories, particularly Listen Little Man and The Mass Psychology Of Facism. It's a great introduction to Reich's work and the entire novel draws heavily on his theory. It's very interesting watching an author explore his theories in a fictional setting. Well worth reading.

....mixed in with a reductionistic theory whose centerpiece implies that the cure for neurosis is having sex more often. At times I wished the author had taken his own advice in lieu of writing such a long and drawn-out book...or that I had taken his advice instead of reading it all. Scattered useful clinical concepts.

Wilhelm Reich was many things in his lifetime- a student of Freud, a political activist, a research scientist, and an inventor. His work was decades ahead of its time and is finally being rediscovered and reevaluated by the public. If, like me, you are interested in Reich and his work, you might want to check out a novel called We All Fall Down, by Brian Caldwell. it draws heavily on Reich's theories, particularly Listen Little Man and The Mass Psychology Of Facism. It's a great introduction to Reich's work and the entire novel draws heavily on his theory. It's very interesting watching an author explore his theories in a fictional setting. Well worth reading.

Conventional wisdom has it that the firest two-thirds of this treatise on character analysis improved psychoanalytic technique, focusing on character-based resistances rather than just on interpreting content--associations, dreams, etc. True enough, but the last third, which analysts and critics say represents Reich's slippage into maddness, is even more brilliant and farsighted. Here, Reich moves into the area of bioenergy and body-based psychotherapy. He presages some modern developments in psychotherapy, and in many respects, moves ahead of where mainstream therapy resides today. His bioenergy/therapy integration was also a forerunner of much of today's alternative mind-body and energy medicine modalities. Reich was not always the most trenchant writer, but here is writing his sharp, direct, and provocative. This is Reich's great contribution, still largely neglected.