Psycho Analysis: an interpretation of Alfred Hitchcock's cinematic masterpiece

by Dale Andrew White

From the author of "A Field Guide to Alfred Hitchcock's 'The Birds'"...In this scene-by-scene critique, fans of director Alfred Hitchcock gain an appreciation for how the master of suspense employed symbolism, character movement and other techniques he had been honing since the silent movie era for his 1960 classic shocker, "Psycho." This concise guide is for readers who have already seen the film, intend to see it again - but have not immersed themselves in the decades of scholarship about this most celebrated and studied of the famed director's films. Consider it a CliffsNotes guide that may provide additional perspective as you watch "Psycho" again.

Genres: Film

23 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 15, 2011

About the author

Dale Andrew White's humorous short stories have appeared in Modern Short Stories, Comic Relief, The MacGuffin, Nuthouse, Beyond Science Fiction & Fantasy and numerous other magazines and journals.

Midwest Book Review calls him "a natural born storyteller with an especial flair for blending fantasy, whimsy, satire and a fevered imagination into original stories that are replete with ribald humor and reader-engaging novelty."

BookReview.com warns that to open a Dale Andrew White short story collection "is to invite trouble - and probably enjoy it."

Several of White's short stories can be downloaded separately on Amazon Kindle.

White is a member of Humor Writers of America. His short story collections have been nominated for the James Thurber Prize for American Humor.

White's free-lance magazine journalism has included interviews with novelist Harry Crews, comedian Henny Youngman, cartoonist Gahan Wilson, the Allman Brothers Band, pop artist Andy Warhol,Up the Down Staircase author Bel Kaufman, behavioral psychologist B.F. Skinner, actor Derek Jacobi, Watership Down author Richard Adams, novelist Eugenia Price, rock 'n' roll icons Little Richard and Bo Diddley, macabre cartoonist Gahan Wilson, Sir Peter Saunders (Agatha Christie's theatrical producer), The Blackboard Jungle author Evan Hunter (also known as Ed McBain, author of the 87th Precinct mystery series), Rumpole of the Bailey creator John Mortimer, novelist Chaim Potok, "Hagar the Horrible" cartoonist Dik Browne and others. Many of his interviews are featured in the collection Encounters with Authors and are also available separately on Amazon Kindle.

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

A rehash

This book is basically a retelling of the movie Psycho. Not much new is said. I've seen the movie probably twenty times or more and didn't gain anything new from this analysis except, maybe, the idea that moving left or right had a deeper meaning in Hitchcock's masterpiece.

[Rich · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although there were a few tidbits of information that were new to me, most of this was common knowledge. It was pretty light fare, but an easy read.