Zeno's Conscience is a psychoanalytic novel by Italo Svevo, published in 1923 In the preface of the book, the self-proclaimed psychoanalyst Doctor S (believed to be inspired by Sigmund Freud or more likely Edoardo Weiss) declares his intention to publish, "out of revenge," some memoirs written in an autobiographical form by one of his patients, Zeno Cosini, who had evaded the treatment prescribed to him. The former patient's notes constitute the content of the book. The novel is, in fact, an analysis of the psyche of Zeno, an individual who feels sick and inept and is constantly seeking a cure for his malaise through multiple attempts, sometimes absurd or counterproductive.
