was published in 1970. Unlike Laing's previous books,

is not written in a formal academic style, nor in the polemical tones of

, but in a poetic, playful and occasionally quite schematic style. Writing this book was a gamble for Laing, because publishing companies in England and the USA did not know whether to classify it as poetry, philosophy, or psychology. When he started it in 1968, he felt that he had done more than enough research into schizophrenia and families, and that

would allow him room for more creative exploration.

In R.D. Laing: A Biography, Laing's son Adrian notes that his father spent more time on Knots than any other book, and painstakingly worked through eight handwritten drafts. The effort paid off, because Knots appealed to

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Citation: Burston, Daniel, Gavin Miller. "Knots". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 29 August 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=16848, accessed 23 November 2024.]