ABSTRACT
Marie Cardinal speaks for herself. By attending to her testimony, we gain not only an understanding, but also an intimate appreciation, of what it means to come to be a subject within the context of a Freudian-inspired analysis. Her story has been read by millions, quite literally. The cover of the 1993 publication of her novel states that the work received the prestigious Prix Littre 1976, has been translated into eighteen languages, and more than 2.5 million copies have been sold. It was subsequently made into a film of the same name. Surely we must ask the obvious question: why was this novel so popular? What could be so interesting to others about the highways and byways of one person’s seven year analysis that millions wanted to read of her experience? Remember, too, this was during a period throughout which the anti-Freud genre blossomed.
