Product Description

Suddenly confronted with his own mortality after a routine checkup, eminent psychotherapist Julius Hertzfeld is forced to reexamine his life and work -- and seeks out Philip Slate, a sex addict whom he failed to help some twenty years earlier. Yet Philip claims to be cured -- miraculously transformed by the pessimistic teachings of German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer -- and is, himself, a philosophical counselor in training. Philips dour, misanthropic stance compels Julius to invite Philip to join his intensive therapy group in exchange for tutoring on Schopenhauer. But with mere months left, life may be far too short to help Philip or to compete with him for the hearts and minds of the group members. And then again, it might be just long enough.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14686 in Books
• Published on: 2006-01-01
• Released on: 2006-01-03
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Having taken on the origins of psychotherapy in the popular When Nietzsche Wept, psychiatrist-novelist Yalom now turns to group therapy and the thinker sometimes known as the "philosopher of pessimism," in this meticulous, occasionally slow-moving book. Julius Hertzfeld, a successful therapist in San Francisco, is shocked by the news that he suffers from terminal cancer. Moved to reassess his life's work, he contacts Philip Slate, whose three years of therapy for sexual addiction Julius describes as an "old-time major-league failure." Philip is now training to be a therapist himself, guided by the writings of Arthur Schopenhauer, and he offers to teach Julius about Schopenhauer as a way of helping him deal with his looming death. Julius and Philip strike a deal: Julius will serve as Philip's clinical supervisor, but only if Philip joins the ongoing therapy group Julius leads. To complicate matters further, Pam, a group member, is one of the hundreds of women Philip seduced and then rejected. Yalom often refers to his books as "teaching novels," and his re-creation of a working therapy group is utterly convincing. At the same time, his approach can be overly documentary, as the inner workings of therapy, often repetitious and self-referential, absorb much of the novel's momentum. A parallel account of Schopenhauer's life sheds light on the philosopher's intellectual triumphs and emotional difficulties.
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Kirkus Review
"A beautifully wrought tale of a therapy group's final year and a moving debate about the end of life."

Kirkus Reviews
"A beautifully wrought tale of a therapy group's final year and a moving debate about the end of life."

Customer Reviews

Death and values
This book explores values and life in an unconventional way: through the use of a group therapy context. In that group, there is a character, Phillip, who represents the philosopher Schopenhauer. Once the premise of the book is established, the chapters alternate between group therapy sessions and essays about Schopenhauer.

True,Yalom is not a novelist in the conventional sense, but he does create interesting characters who represent ideas. It's a very thought provoking book that invites deep questions about how to live a meaningful life in our fast paced, technology world. This book is not for everyone. It's serious, but it makes way for humor too. So be prepared for a very challenging and unusual read.

Yalom on death
Although this book repeats much of what Yalom has written before about existential issues in psychotherapy it has some fresh perspectives and interesting case histories and Yalom speaks of his own existential struggles as well. A quick read, and for those who have not read some of his denser material, a good primer on his existential framework for psychotherapy which, in this reader's view, has considerable merit

Existential angst, or Buddism without spirituality
This book was my introduction to Schopenhauer. From the quotes and summaries of his philosopy, it seems to me that his observations of the world and his attempts to detach from it are similar to Buddism. A Course in Miracles teaches the necessity of thinking and looking beyond this world. Unfortunately for Schopenhauer, as per Yalom's book, there is nothing divine beyond this reality, hence his angst and disgust with life.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It intelligently included topics important to me: psychotherapy issues (I am a psychologist), confronting death, sexuality, and interpersonal dynamics within the context of a fictional story. The characters are easy to identify with. I surprisingly identified most with Phillip Slate, who apparently is a modern incarnation of Schopenhauer. I found Yalom's description of the therapy group's interactions fascintating, aspects of each individual undoubtedly taken from Yalom's own rich files. Every character shows us that we are all in a constant state of emotional evolution.

My only, very minor, disappointment was the inherent agnostic/atheistic perspective. I personally believe that an eventual connection with the eternal divine is the only way to truly come to terms with death.