If I Think about Money So Much, Why Can't I Figure It Out?: Understanding and Overcoming Your Money Complex

In this probing and excellent study, psychoanalyst Matthews ( Why Did I Marry You, Anyway? ) examines the inept or aberrant money-related behaviors of sensible, even brilliant, people. She claims that most of us suffer to some extent from money-connected strains on self-esteem or relationships and cites numerous examples of profligacy and unnecessary penny-pinching. Tracing roots of a ``money complex'' to infancy, she claims that conflicting influences from our families, education, careers and culture shape our subjective valueing of money. With insighful commentary on, for instance, the psychic link between time and money and the lemming-like psychology of investors, Matthews offers advice and ``laws'' designed to help readers identify and cope with various money complexes. Author tour.