Abstract
Some clinicians look upon the reception of Lacan in the United States in a negative light—a sign of failure in some way—and can be dismissive at times of the intellectual appreciation of Lacan’s work. The story of psychoanalysis in the United States, and the issue of Lacan, must, however, be read carefully. Even before Lacan, Freud was quite skeptical of what Americans wanted to do with psychoanalysis. Indeed, while Freud felt a warm welcome by Americans, he was concerned about the impact of the United States on psychoanalysis itself. It is against the backdrop of this successful failure of Lacanian psychoanalysis as a practice in the United States, that we can examine the success of Lacan in American academia and intellectual life. For Lacan, to read Otherwise is to Read the very signifier of the lack in the Other, to be able to read something in a place where the Other lacks, where it fails to give meaning.