This book fundamentally reassesses the Freud legend and the impact of his essay 'Beyond the Pleasure Principle' on twentieth-century thought. Todd Dufresne, writing from the perspective of intellectual history, traces the influence of Freud's late theory of the death drive across various disciplines. The book serves as both an introduction and a corrective to the extensive literature on Freud, examining its ramifications in biography, biology, psychotherapy, philosophy, and literary theory. Dufresne concludes with an ironic observation on the proliferation of Freudian scholarship.

The book is presented as a foundational reassessment of Freudian studies, aiming to challenge existing interpretations. Its approach through intellectual history and its focus on 'Beyond the Pleasure Principle' suggest a text intended for scholars and advanced students of psychoanalysis and related fields. The author's ironic conclusion highlights a critical perspective on the vast body of Freudian scholarship. The work seeks to provide both an introduction to and a corrective for the existing literature on Freud.