The Examined Life

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INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER

BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The Globe and Mail, The Guardian, Metro, The Bookseller

A book of stories as powerful as therapy itself: psychoanalyst Stephen Grosz draws vivid, compelling lessons from his decades of practice to uncover the hidden feelings behind our ordinary behaviour.

These beautifully rendered tales illuminate the fundamental pathways of life, from birth to death. A woman finds herself daydreaming as she returns home from a business trip; a young man loses his wallet. We learn, too, from more extreme examples: the patient who points an unloaded gun at a police officer, the compulsive liar who convinces his wife he’s dying of cancer. The stories invite compassionate understanding, suggesting answers to the questions that compel and disturb us most about love and loss, parents and children, work and change. The resulting journey will spark new ideas about who we are and why we do what we do.INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER

Finalist for the Independent Booksellers Book Award
Longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award

A Globe and Mail Best Book of the Year
A Guardian Readers’ Best Book of the Year
One of Metro’s Best Non-Fiction Books of the Year
A Bookseller Best Book of the Year

“With quiet and gentle economy, Grosz brings us into the tender heart of some of the most intimate of human moments. As both participant and privileged witness, Grosz shares instances of revelation and insight into the human condition in ways that inspire the empathy in us all.” —Camilla Gibb, bestselling author of This Is Happy

“The stories may be commonplace or extraordinary. . . . Behaviour that at first glance seems baffling is often a gateway to self-discovery and revelation.” —Toronto Star

“An elegant, unfussy writer, [Grosz] compresses years of analysis into short chapters that feel like minimalist, suspenseful detective stories. At the end of each story, a secret is revealed; often, it’s a secret which you’ve also kept.” —The New Yorker
 
“Writing with an elegance and poignancy that would make Raymond Carver envious, the long-time psychoanalyst seems to argue that our greatest difficulties should be looked at as stories rather than problems. . . . [W]hatever comes out, the richness of any person’s honest story of adversity makes mere happiness pale in comparison. . . . The Examined Life tells of the melancholy nature of being human in a way that is surprisingly uplifting.” —The Globe and Mail

“[A]n insightful and beautifully written book about the process of psychoanalysis, and the ways people’s efforts to connect the past, present and future reflect their capacity to change. . . . [A] series of slim, piercing chapters that read like a combination of Chekhov and Oliver Sacks. They invite us to identify with Mr. Grosz’s patients and their losses and regrets, even as we are made to marvel at the complexities and convolutions of the human mind.” —Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times Book Review

“Although the author teaches psychoanalytic theory at University College London . . . the writing is anything but clinical. There is a lucidity and a gently amused empathy to the stories that feels Chekhovian in their ability to recognize the small, transformative moments in our relationships. And this therapist isn’t a blank slate; his doubts and daydreams in the consulting room enter into the stories, which helps level the playing field between therapist and patient, and triangulates the mystery.” —Marni Jackson, Maclean’s 
 
“Grosz’s true tales from the psychoanalyst’s couch have stayed with me and should be read by everyone who wants to understand what makes us who we are.” —Alison Starling, The Guardian

“Grosz tells stories in spare, gentle prose—his compassion for his patients is palpable, and constant, on these pages—the result is a sense of shared humanity, understanding and even hope.” —The Boston Globe

“If [Grosz’s] writing is a measure of the humanity, compassion, and intelligence he provides in his consulting room then his patients are a fortunate lot. . . . His vignettes reveal what makes us vulnerable and thereby human, how relationships sustain (and frighten) us, and how symptoms and problems both serve our needs and make us suffer. It is a rare mental health professional who can write like a storyteller—with simplicity, pathos, and suspense. . . . Stephen Grosz has, remarkably, given us tales full of insight and truth through his non-fiction stories. His gift is to use words that turn the human encounters of analytic practice into what seem like fables. In doing so, he leaves us moved and curious about a clinical technique, psychoanalysis, that has endured despite its orthodoxy, critics, psychological and financial burden to undertake, and (still) largely only anecdote to claim its effectiveness.” —Psychology Today

“Given the climate of skepticism, it is striking that an unapologetic, non-satirical book about psychoanalysis has been on the bestseller list for several months. . . . Though the titles of the chapters announce a theme . . . they are never essays, always stories, and though they sometimes attain the gravity of parable, there is no sense in which Grosz is preaching. . . . His words are often so resonant they transcend their local significance. . . . Stephen Grosz’s book might so easily have been defensive, prescriptive, even parental in tone. Instead, it offers a serene account of the work Grosz has continued to believe in, despite its declining prestige . . . he seems to have appeared from nowhere—the wise psychoanalyst, whose insight reams of cerebral argument would have undersold.” —Literary Review

“Stephen Grosz has condensed thousands of hours of consultations into this gem. . . . Grosz writes lucidly and with sensitivity, treating his patients with respect. The cases are sprinkled with wise reflections. . . . This is highly recommended.” —The Independent

“Grosz’s clear and evocative prose, and his empathy for his patients’ struggles, result in a gem of a book that bridges the self-help, psychoanalysis and short fiction genres.” —The Irish TimesSTEPHEN GROSZ is a psychoanalyst and writer. He lives in lives and practices in London.US

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