The Schopenhauer Cure : A Novel
Author(s): Irvin Yalom
From the internationally bestselling author of Love's Executioner and When Nietzsche Wept, comes a novel of group therapy with a cast of memorably wounded characters struggling to heal pain and change lives
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.
Philip's 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.
Review(s):
“Yalom’s enthusiasm is contagious. And he certainly knows how to tell a page-turning story.”
“Yalom’s melding of philosophy, pedantry, psychiatry and literature result in a surprisingly engaging novel of ideas.”
“Considers the value and limits of therapy and those points at which philosophy and psychology converge.”
“A beautifully wrought tale of a therapy group’s final year and a moving debate about the end of life.”
“As a novel of ideas, this book effectively explores loss, sexual desire, and the search for meaning.”
“The world’s first accurate group-therapy novel, a mezmerizing story of two men’s search for meaning.”
“Meticulous. [Yalom’s] re-creation of a working therapy group is utterly convincing.”
ISBN: 9780060938109