Enjoy your symptom!: Jacques Lacan in Hollywood and out

In "Enjoy Your Symptom!" Slavoj Zizek argues for the accessibility and ultimate simplicity of Lacanian theory by linking it with popular Hollywood film. "Enjoy Your Symptom!" is divided into five chapters, each elucidating some fundamental Lacanian notion or theoretical complex - "letter, fantasy, woman, repetition, phallus, father" - through a reference to Hollywood and the popular culture which forms the background of our common experience. Each chapter is then divided into two parts. In the first part, Lacan is "in Hollywood," ie the notion or complex in question is explained by way of examples from Hollywood or popular culture in general. In the second division, we are "out of Hollywood", ie the same notion is elaborated as it is in its context. The "Why ..." in the title of each chapter purposely evokes the naivete of a child's question. Pick up this book and learn why a "letter" always arrives at its destination with the help of "City Lights", "Now Voyager" and "Letter from an Unknown Woman"; learn why fantasy is the ultimate support of reality with the help of "Rancho", "Notorious", "She" and "Tarzan"; learn why woman is a symptom of man with the help of Roberto Ross.