Paul Goodman left his mark in a number of fields: he went from being known as a social critic and philosopher of the New Left to poet and literary critic to author of influential works on education (Compulsory Mis-education) and community planning (Communitas). Perhaps his most significant achievement was in his contribution to the founding and theoretical portion of the classic text Gestalt Therapy (with F. S. Perls and R. E. Hefferline, 1951), still regarded as the cornerstone of Gestalt practice.

Taylor Stoher's Here Now Next is the first scholarly account of the origins of Gestalt therapy, told from the point of view of its chief theoretician by a man who knew him well. Stoehr describes both Goodman's role in establishing the principal ideas of the Gestalt movement and the ways in which his practice as a therapist changed him, ultimately leading to a new vocation as the "socio-therapist" of the body politic. He places Goodman in the midst of his world, showing how his personal and public life - including his political activities in the 1960s - were transformed by Gestalt ideas, and he presents revealing sketches of other major figures from those days - Fritz Perls, Wilhelm Reich, A. S. Neill, and others.

Here are the stories of a dozen men on probation from the busiest criminal court in Massachusetts who met together on a college campus for three months to read and talk about Frederick Douglass, Malcolm X, Bill Russell, as well as Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov, Maxim Gorky, and other authors who write about major life changes not only issues that have gotten probationers in trouble, such as anger and violence, substance abuse, or family breakdown, but also background problems like poverty and racism, the need for social justice, the weakening of community bonds, and the thinning of spiritual sustenance."Changing Lives" presents its students with two challenges: personal self-examination in the reflective mirror of literary experience and group participation in a democratic classroom in which civic virtues are fostered by being exercised. Probationers see themselves in the characters they read about, and they acquire new attitudes as they talk with one another about their own plight. The classroom promotes respect for other voices and points of view, and they learn to take each other seriously in new ways. "Changing Lives" provides a safe haven for reflection and earnest conversation, in which students no longer have to bluff or be cool, guarded, or evasive. Self-esteem grows as they discover they can hold their own in heartfelt debate, not just street corner banter. And because the classroom puts them on equal footing with authority figures teachers, probation officers, and even judges a new social awareness begins to emerge. The goal is partly to validate one s personal worthiness and partly to build a new citizenly identity to replace the labels they have always been stuck with. Reawakening moral consciousness and a fresh commitment to society is essential if probationers are not to cycle endlessly through the limbo of street life and jail time. "

Painting a vivid picture of 1960s counterculture ideas, this new collection of the late Paul Goodman's essential anarchist writings--from utopian essays to practical proposals--reveals how he inspired the dissident youth of the era and profoundly influenced movement theory and practice. Long out-of-print, these provocative, insightful, and incisive pieces analyze citizenship and civil disobedience, decentralization and the organized system--all while still mindful of the long anarchist tradition and of the Jeffersonian democracy that resonated strongly in Goodman's own political thought. A potent antidote to U.S. global imperialism and domestic anomie, this collection also includes a new introduction by Goodman's friend and literary executor, Taylor Stoehr, who explains why these nine core texts will thoroughly explicate anarchism for future generations.

In this new collection of his most acute and durable political writing, readers will recognize the spirit of indignation and hope Goodman first roused in the 1960s with "Growing Up Absurd." "Stoehr tells his Goodman's] story well.This is the genuine kind of decentralism."--"The Nation"

Paul Goodman was one of the founders and major theoreticians of Gestalt therapy, as well as a practicing psychotherapist for many years. He constantly sought to understand the nature of our selves and our society. "Our misery seems so ingrained that it calls for an explanation from our essential natures." "Nature Heals" contains Goodman's most Important writings on psychology, including his critiques of Sigmund Freud and Wilhelm Reich, his discussions of aggression, racism, sex, ethics and other areas of modern psychopathology. Of particular Interest is his appraisal of the special problems of writers, and his notes on his own self-analysis. This book stands alone as perceptive psychological writing. These essays also help us understand the underpinnings of Goodman's political and literary visions. The pieces - some of them published here for the first time - have been selected and introduced by Taylor Stoehr, Goodman's biographer and one of his literary executors.

In this new collection of his most acute and durable political writing, readers will recognize the spirit of indignation and hope Goodman first roused in the 1960s with "Growing Up Absurd." "Stoehr tells his Goodman's] story well.This is the genuine kind of decentralism."--"The Nation"