Stephen O'Connor with Vijay Seshadri

Stephen O'Connor presents We Want So Much to Be Ourselves
In conversation with Vijay Seshadri
Stephen O'Connor (Thomas Jefferson Dreams of Sally Hemings) returns to Greenlight with We Want So Much to Be Ourselves, a heartrending story of love in a time of hatred, an absorbing investigation into the Nazis’ exploitation of psychoanalysis, and a cautionary tale about self-deception and the failures of a people to recognize the lies of their charismatic leader. Günter Zeitz, psychoanalyst-in-training, and Josine Rosen, Sigmund Freud’s patient, first meet in 1924 and swiftly develop an intense affair. Less than a decade later, all their hopes and ideals are profoundly challenged by political realities so horrific that they are, initially, beyond comprehension. "A vivid, sorrowing novel about the power of ideas," (Joan Silber, author of Improvement and Mercy), We Want So Much to Be Ourselves examines the ways science can be corrupted and one’s very identity transformed by historical circumstance. Local Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Vijay Seshadri joins O'Connor for a reading and discussion before an audience Q&A and signing.