Sally Porterfield is former Director of the A&S Drama Program at the University of Hartford, where she was Assistant Professor of Drama. She is the author of Jung's Advice to the Players: A Jungian Reading of Shakespeare's Problem Plays. Keith Polette is Professor of English at the University of Texas at El Paso. His books include Teaching Grammar Through Writing: Activities to Develop Writer's Craft in ALL Students in Grades 4–12. Tita French Baumlin is Professor of English at Missouri State University and coeditor (with James S. Baumlin and George H. Jensen) of Post-Jungian Criticism: Theory and Practice, also published by SUNY Press.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroduction to the Puer/Puella ArchetypeGEORGE H. JENSENCulture on the Couch: Western Civilization's Journey from Crisis to MaturityANODEA JUDITHPuer and Hellmouth: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and American MythSUSAN ROWLANDPuer in Nature: The Monster and the Grizzly ManRINDA WESTGrounding Icarus: Puer Aeternus and the Suicidal UrgeDUSTIN EATONThe Puer as American HeroSALLY PORTERFIELDShaken, Not Stirred: James Bond and the Puer ArchetypeLUKE HOCKLEYA Crown Must Be Earned Every Day: Seeking the Mature Masculine in High Art and Pop CultureDARRELL DOBSON"Protracted Adolescence": Refl ections on Forces Informing the American Senex and Puer in the Classroom: A Confl ict of Consciousness in EducationKEITH POLETTEInsanity by the Numbers, Knowings from the Ground: Outgrowing and Outloving the Cult of Quantifi cationCRAIG CHALQUISTThe Marriage of the Puer Aeternus and Trickster Archetypes: Psychological Rebirth for the Puer PersonalityCHAZ GORMLEYLittle Girl Lost: Sylvia Plath and the Puella AeternaSUSAN E. SCHWARTZProvincials in Time: The Provisional LifeMARITA DELANEYList of ContributorsIndex

"The fourteen essays in Perpetual Adolescence each stand on their own as important contributions to understanding the archetype of the Eternal Child in Western popular culture … Perpetual Adolescence is a timely, provocative, and sobering examination of the endemic suffering and pandemic consequences of mass-mindedness 'driven by archetypes.'" — Spring"This compelling analysis of why visions of never-ending childhood are so compelling in contemporary media delivers a solid, Jungian deconstruction of pop culture." — CHOICE"Perpetual Adolescence is a fascinating study of one of Jung's most important archetypes, that of the puer aeternus, which implies arrested development rather than eternal youth. Perpetually interesting, this book is genuinely interdisciplinary and will appeal to those interested in cultural studies, film studies, environmental studies, and mythic criticism." — Jeffrey Berman, author of Death in the Classroom: Writing about Love and Loss