SOURCE: A review of The Politics of the Family, and Other Essays, in The New York Times Book Review, October 3, 1971, pp. 2-3, 40-41

Sennett is an American sociologist and educator. In the following unfavorable review of The Politics of the Family, he charges that Laing's "thought has disintegrated dramatically" and that he "has lost that capacity to dream which is necessary in any enduring radical vision."

In a moment of anger in his new book, R. D. Laing writes, "Our own cities are our own animal factories; families, schools, churches, are the slaughterhouses of our children; colleges and other places are the kitchens. As adults in marriages and business we eat the product." These charges may all be true, but they are tiresome, written in such a way that the reader turns them off. The strongest impression I have after reading The Politics of the Family and Other...