The Caricature of Love: A Discussion of Social, Psychiatric, and Literary Manifestations of Pathologic Sexuality

The Caricature of Love was originally published in 1957 by Hervey Cleckley, the author of the classic text on psychopathy, The Mask of Sanity. With his extensive clinical knowledge and experience, in this volume Cleckley plumbs the depths of sexual dysfunction and perversion, exposing their influence on culture and society.

While Cleckley's views on homosexuality may be typical of his time, his analysis has broad applications, bringing insight to the dysfunction in homosexual and heterosexual relationships, the probable causes, and the sexual perversion of many of the "leaders" of our literary heritage. From Plato to Marquis de Sade, and Andre Gide to Evelyn Waugh, Cleckley describes the twisted views of sexuality popularized via art and literature, making it highly relevant in today's hyper-sexualized culture.

In concert with his more famous work on psychopathy, The Caricature of Love sheds important light on the problems of psychopathology. As is becoming increasingly clear in our time, positions of leadership are being saturated with such individuals, manifesting in everything from government incompetence, economic failure, endless wars and civil oppression, to human trafficking and pedophilia rings. Cleckley exposes the nature of what lies beneath those manifestations.