Written by the editor Aniela Jaffé, the Introduction highlights how the biography was constructed. Initially resistant to the idea of sharing his personal life with others, Jung met with Jaffé one afternoon a week in the spring of 1957. They constructed the book as an autobiography, with Jaffé asking the psychoanalyst a series of questions and recording Jung’s responses. Jung’s hesitation soon fell away as he found meaning and connections in the mental work of uncovering memories from his childhood. He felt that the autobiography, like his other works, had taken on a life of its own: “A book of mine is always a matter of fate. There is something unpredictable about the process of writing, and I cannot prescribe for myself any predetermined course” (vi).

The process of putting the book together took several years. Jung finished the first three chapters in April 1958, with additional chapters written in 1959. Jaffé notes that the tone of the autobiography is conversational, as many elements of the book are drawn out of the conversations between Jaffé and Jung. Despite his consent to the project, Jung struggled with the idea of publishing the biography. He called the work “Jaffé’s project,” separating himself from it.