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Book Review: Schwartzberg, Sharan L. and Navarro, Leyla (eds) Envy, Competition and Gender: Theory, Clinical Applications and Group Work. London: Routledge, 2007. £ 22.99, pp. 272. ISBN: 978-1583917497

This is an ambitious book which aims to cover three very important subjects which, when combined, form much of the challenge to group analysts in their practice, whether clinical, or organizational. Each subject on its own could easily have provided enough stimulation for thought and exploration. The title seems to indicate equal status to the three subjects; however this would be misleading, and the authors clarify this in the introduction where they state that the book is concerned with envy and competition in relation to gender. In fact, envy is the overarching subject, and it is with a theoretical overview of this emotion that the editors introduce the volume. Of interest is that the editors wish to point to envy not only being a destructive emotion, but also one which allows us to have some insight into what we might want. The book is well set out in three parts. It begins with developmental perspectives, is followed by practice perspectives, and concludes with group perspectives. The articles themselves cover a wide variety of topics including: masculinity and competition, gender differences in envying and being envied, the evolution of the female self, envy and generatively, envy in body transference and counter-transference, envy and desire, and revenge and retaliation. Some chapters were more successful and more thought provoking than others. I particularly valued Avi Berman’s chapter on ‘Envy and Generativity’ for its breadth and generosity; Macario Giraldo’s chapter ‘To Have or Not To Be’, which I found stimulating and creative in its approach and, finally, Sharan Schwartzberg’s chapter ‘Gender, Envy and Competition in the American Workplace’ which offered some useful ideas on how to ameliorate some of the worst effects of envy on group processes within a work setting. The editors do well in providing a helpful conclusion to the book that forms a good summary of the material. Perhaps the most problematic aspect of the book is that it is so ambitious. I found the variety of approaches, from Jungian to Lacanian somewhat confusing and, for me, made the book less accessible. The chapters too were rather uneven in quality. Perhaps too much was sacrificed for breadth over depth, and I personally would have preferred the latter. Wil Pennycook-Greaves