The Illusionless Man: Fantasies and Meditation on Disillusionment

by Allen Wheelis

The Illusionless Man is an exploration, sometimes comic, sometimes serious,into the process of disenchantment, regarded with sympathy by this eminent poet-philosopher of the psychoanalytic world. In the first four Fantasies, the illusions of love, memories, work, and death are exposed, while in the two concluding Meditations, Wheelis writes intimately as a psychoanalyst about the illusions of his chosen profession. Stimulating, wise, and elegant, The Illusionless Man speaks as eloquently now as it did on its first publication in 1966.

"This is a beautifully written statement of a philosophy which will please and uplift, both by its bittersweet aphoristic quality and the solidity of its message."
-George Adelman, Library Journal

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction

206 pages, Paperback

Published January 17, 2000

Reviews

[Michael Caves · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want so hard to give this book 5 stars, but it being a collection of stories I struggle. The titular story “the illusionless man and the visionary maid” is a phenomenal, thought provoking tail deserving of 5 stars. As are the included stories “the league of death” and “the signal”. However, the rest fell flat for me and left me indifferent to them. If ranking these 3 individually they’d each get 2 stars at most. Despite not enjoying half of the stories however, I still find this to be a deeply impactful novel that I would highly recommend.

[Lulu · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Illusionless Man & the Visionary Maid (pp. 13-44)

[William N · Rating 5 out of 5]

16 stars