Impromptu Man: J.L. Moreno and the Origins of Psychodrama, Encounter Culture, and the Social Network

by Jonathan D. Moreno

Overview

“Impromptu Man captures the remarkable impact of a singular genius, J.L. Moreno, whose creations—the best-known being psychodrama—have shaped our culture in myriad ways, many unrecognized. The record will be set straight for all time by this can’t-put-down biography, a tribute by Jonathan D. Moreno to his father’s masterly legacy.” —DANIEL GOLEMAN, author of Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ

J.L. Moreno (1889-1974), the father of psychodrama, was an early critic of Sigmund Freud, wrote landmark works of Viennese expressionism, founded an experimental theater where he discovered Peter Lorre, influenced Martin Buber, and became one of the most important psychiatrists and social scientists of his time.

A mystic, theater impresario and inventor in his youth, Moreno immigrated to America in 1926, where he trained famous actors, introduced group therapy, and was a forerunner of humanistic psychology. As a social reformer, he reorganized schools and prisons, and designed New Deal planned communities for workers and farmers. Moreno’s methods have been adopted by improvisational theater groups, military organizations, educators, business leaders, and trial lawyers. His studies of social networks laid the groundwork for social media like Twitter and Facebook.

Featuring interviews with Clay Shirky, Gloria Steinem, and Werner Erhard, among others, original documentary research, and the author’s own perspective growing up as the son of an innovative genius, Impromptu Man is both the study of a great and largely unsung figure of the last century and an epic history, taking readers from the creative chaos of early twentieth-century Vienna to the wired world of Silicon Valley.

Jonathan D. Moreno, called the “most interesting bioethicist of our time” by the American Journal of Bioethics, is a professor at the Universityof Pennsylvania and a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781934137840
Publisher:	Bellevue Literary Press
Publication date:	10/14/2014
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Jonathan D. Moreno is a philosopher and historian who has advised many governmental and business groups and served on a presidential transition team. He is the author and editor of numerous seminal books, including Mind Wars: Brain Science and the Military in the 21st Century and The Body Politic: The Battle Over Science in America. Called the “most interesting bioethicist of our time” by the American Journal of Bioethics, Moreno is a professor at the Universityof Pennsylvania, a member of the UNESCO International Bioethics Committee, a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, and a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and Psychology Today. He divides his time between Philadelphia and Washington, DC.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Empty Chair 13

Chapter 1 What the World Needs Now 26

Chapter 2 The Godplayer 49

Chapter 3 Spontaneity 71

Chapter 4 Impromptu 91

Chapter 5 The Social Network 118

Chapter 6 The Group and the Self 145

Chapter 7 Sensitivity Goes to War 170

Chapter 8 The Humanists 197

Chapter 9 The Great Crossover 227

Chapter 10 Six Degrees from J.L. 253

Afterword: A Role Reversal 277

Acknowledgments 279

Notes 283

Index 304

Editorial Reviews

07/28/2014
Moreno (Mind Wars) seeks to elucidate his father’s intellectual contributions to ideas, movements, and practices of the 20th century and today; for, in the words of psychologist Karl Scheibe, “while influence has been mighty, his name has receded into the shadows.” Part biography and part cultural history, this well researched book begins with J.L. Moreno’s Viennese background and the beginnings of his important work, including the development of the concepts of “psychodrama,” the now-familiar combination of therapy and theater, and “sociometry,” the study of social relationships and a precursor to contemporary social-network analysis. Between the Encounter movement of the 1960s, military morale, humanistic psychology, Second City improv, and psychodrama training for trial lawyers, J.L.’s influence appears across domains and “it’s hard to exaggerate the extent to which pioneering ideas have penetrated the culture” since. The book’s first half is heavier on biography and feels dense despite conveying the eccentric and charming nature of its central subject. The narrative is at its best in the latter chapters, which survey the reach of his influence and provide a sort of sociometry of J.L.’s brilliant and creative ideas. 16 illus. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

[Jonathan] D. Moreno’s book is an especially engaging read, particularly for his attention to the effects of his father’s work on popular culture, and his ability to recount anecdotes from childhood, such as that he literally ‘grew up in a mental hospital.’ . . . Read [Impromptu Man] for an intimate account of what it was like to grow up in the Moreno family and how one might imagine, in serendipitous ways, that experience may have led to J. D. Moreno’s eminent career as a professor of bioethics.” —PsycCRITIQUES

“No matter in what direction you turned, J.L. Moreno was there: a creative, charismatic force, challenging the psychiatric hegemony of the times and daring to create theory and methods to promote growth in individuals, groups, and society. . . . [Impromptu Man] should be required reading for all graduate students and group practitioners in this field.” —Group Psychologist

“Fascinating. . . . Instead of a couch, [J.L. Moreno] used dramaturgy: a stage, role players, and an audience to put the patient’s concerns into heightened awareness and action. Woody Allen, Dustin Hoffman, and Alan Alda were among many theater people who attended Moreno’s psychodrama demonstrations. . . . The essence of Moreno’s contribution to dramaturgy is that theater is spontaneous, co-creative, authentic, and transformative action.” —Broad Street Review

“A candid, engaging biography of an important pioneer in social psychology.” —Library Journal

“An adept introduction to an innovative thinker.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Well researched. . . . Between the Encounter movement of the 1960s, military morale, humanistic psychology, Second City improv, and psychodrama training for trial lawyers, J.L.’s influence appears across domains and ‘it’s hard to exaggerate the extent to which [his] pioneering ideas have penetrated the culture’ since.” —Publishers Weekly

“Jonathan D. Moreno has written an informative book about an amazing man who, over one hundred years ago, saw improv theater as a way to change the world. Today his ideas are more relevant than ever.” —JONATHAN FOX, founder of Playback Theatre and editor of The Essential Moreno

“Impromptu Man captures the remarkable impact of a singular genius, J.L. Moreno, whose creations—the best-known being psychodrama—have shaped our culture in myriad ways, many unrecognized. The record will be set straight for all time by this can’t-put-down biography, a tribute by Jonathan D. Moreno to his father’s masterly legacy.” —DANIEL GOLEMAN, author of Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ

“A splendid account of one the most creative social scientists of the twentieth century. Impromptu Man is filled with fascinating anecdotes, many of them about famous and infamous people, and brilliant insights as to how Moreno’s work transformed vast segments of society and eventually eluded his control. This book is frank, funny, fascinating, and long overdue.” —STANLEY KRIPPNER, PhD, Professor of Psychology, Saybrook University

“A captivating memoir cum sixties cultural history by the son of the radical but forgotten psychotherapist who planted the vibrant seeds of our social network society.” —SALLY SATEL, MD, coauthor of Brainwashed: The Seductive Appeal of Mindless Neuroscience

“Jonathan D. Moreno’s thoughtful assessment of his father, J.L. Moreno, pays overdue tribute to a pioneering maverick in psychology whose concept of ‘psychodrama’ also made an important impact in the arts. Tracing Moreno’s connections with and influence on such organizations as the Provincetown Players, the Civic Repertory, the Group Theatre, the Federal Theatre Project, and the Actors Studio, this intriguing book adds a new layer to our understanding of progressive American theatre in the 1930s and beyond.” —WENDY SMITH, author of Real Life Drama: The Group Theatre and America, 1931-1940

“J.L. Moreno, who fathered psychodrama, set a new world in motion. I doubt he ever dreamed his life’s work would change the lives of trial lawyers and the people they represent, providing us with a new way to communicate and give justice a chance. This book restores him to his rightful place in history.” —GERRY SPENCE, author of How to Argue and Win Every Time and founder of Trial Lawyers College

“J.L. Moreno was a pioneer of twentieth-century theater and psychotherapy. A remarkable work, Impromptu Man should be required reading for therapists and dramatists alike.” —JEFFREY K. ZEIG, PhD, founder and director of The Milton H. Erickson Foundation

From the Publisher

2014-08-13
The son of the psychiatrist who founded psychodrama examines the life of his "famous, eccentric, and controversial" father and traces the evolution and impact of his ideas. For clarity, Moreno (Philosophy and Medical Ethics/Univ. of Pennsylvania; The Body Politic: The Battle Over Science in America, 2011, etc.) refers to his subject as J.L. throughout the book. Born in Bucharest in 1889, J.L. rejected Freudian theory while still a medical student. Early in his career, he developed a form of psychotherapy he called psychodrama, in which the stage becomes a therapeutic platform. From the 1940s to the 1970s, public psychodrama sessions were a feature of Manhattan's Moreno Institute. Recognized as one of the leading social scientists in the United States, J.L. believed that spontaneity and creativity are driving forces in human nature and that love and mutual sharing are powerful principles. In J.L.'s view, improvisation and spontaneity come together in psychodrama, providing a way for members to help each other. Moreno shows the influence of his father's ideas in the "happenings" of the 1960s and the group-dynamic experiments of the human potential movement. That J.L.'s ideas percolated through popular culture, though in watered-down form, is aptly demonstrated in the author's discussion of the hit movie Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969), in which the characters experience an Esalen-like encounter, and of Clint Eastwood's 2012 empty-chair role-playing performance at the Republican convention, a technique rooted in improvisational theater that J.L. used in Vienna a century earlier. J.L.'s insights into group relationships—he created the science of sociometry—predates by decades the success of social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. The attention-loving J.L. understood the human impulse for self-expression and the desire to belong to a group. An adept introduction to an innovative thinker whose dramatic flair and sometimes-messianic personality tended to overshadow his accomplishments.

Kirkus Reviews