The source of genius has long been disputed, with one contention being that its root lies in madness and another that its origin stems from a temperament of exceptional serenity and stability. In his VQR essay, British psychotherapist Anthony Storr investigates "how it is that such discrepant opinions have come to be held" and considers "whether any reconciliation between these opposing views is possible." As his many articles and books attest, Dr. Storr has been concerned with The Integrity of the Personality (the title of his first book) and The Dynamics of Creation (as his fifth work is entitled) throughout his distinguished career. A graduate of Cambridge, Dr. Storr is now Clinical Lecturer in Psychiatry at Oxford University and consultant psychotherapist for the Oxfordshire Area. He has held lectureships at universities throughout Europe and the U.S., including Harvard and Chicago. Among his other books are Human Aggression, Human Destructiveness, and The Art of Psychotherapy. Most recently, Dr. Storr assembled and introduced a selection of writings by Jung which Princeton published as The Essential Jung. He is a member of the Royal Society of Medicine, the Council for Science and Society, and a former chairman of the medical section of the British Psychological Society.

No stranger to the pages of VQR, Kent Nelson won this journal's 1975 Balch Prize for short fiction with his story, "The Humpbacked Bird." Mr. Nelson grew up in Colorado, graduated from Yale and Harvard Law School. In recent years he has left the practice of law to his wife (also an attorney) and devoted himself to writing full time. Well, not all the time, since Mr. Nelson is an outstanding squash player, a sport which gave him consolation as he recently contemplated his 40th birthday.