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the kicker

It’s Not About You, NYT

April 20, 2010

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The kicker to the New York Times‘s obit yesterday for the renowned “narcissism expert,” James F. Masterson:

Dr. Masterson became so well known as an expert on narcissism that he sometimes attracted patients for whom only a high-profile therapist would do — in other words, narcissists. In the 1980s, after The New York Times cited him as an authority on the disorder, he received a dozen calls from people wanting treatment.

Too busy to accept new patients, Dr. Masterson referred the callers to his associates. As The Times reported in 1988, not a single one made an appointment.

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Liz Cox Barrett is a writer at CJR.