Last week reading the 'emotional blackmail' thread here, I clicked on one of the links that took me to a great list of do's/don't's regarding "Silent Blackmailers" (which was dead-on-the- money re bf). That page had a link where I ended up at amazon, and on the amazon page was a link to articles re narcissism, and I thought, 'Hmmmmm, I've always wondered about narcissism' (thinking that may be bf's problem as well). Well, I gotta tell you, I spent like 3 full days/nights online totally engrossed in the subject. If anyone wants to learn more about narcissism, for whatever reason, you gotta read this guy's stuff, Dr. Sam Vaknin. He admits to being a full-blooded 'cerebral narcissist' (v. a 'somatic narcissist') and has voluminous writings on the subject at several websites. Most revealing is his graphic description of what drives a narcissist: "The NS" (Narcissist's Source of Supply). Another really spooky article of his is entitled, "Narcissistic Contagion" (ie, if you are involved with one long enough, their bad sheet will rub off on you!) This guy is blazingly honest and let's you inside his head. Truly, his writings are psychology at its finest! ;-) Enjoy!
Here's a list of links if interested:
Dr. Sam's personal websites, with tons of info:
http://www.geocities.com/vaksam/
http://samvak.tripod.com/siteindex.html
Sam Vaknin's So You'd Like to... Guides (at amazon/re: narcissism):
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/cm/member-guides/-/A3FGJDBSMCSG7G/ref=cm_aya_bb_sylt/104-1912401-5933529
Dr. Sam also has a list of narcissism FAQs at the "FAQ Farm":
http://www.FAQfarm.com/Health/Narcissism/
Dr. Sam's articles at Suite101:
http://www.suite101.com/bulletin.cfm/9128/12848
scroll down to:
NARCISSISTIC PERSONALITY DISORDER (Narcissistic Abuse)
Now I'm going to go take that personality quiz! ;-)
Grits