Momma and the Meaning of Life

Critics Review

• “A fascinating commentary on the bond between patient and therapist.”

  Nick Nolte, actor

• “In every chapter, an epiphany, a tug at the heart, or a gasp of realization. And ‘The Hungarian Cat Curse’ will be read aloud for decades, possibly forever. This isn’t a book, it’s a gift. I only wish that Irvin Yalom lived next door.”

  William Peter Blatty, writer and filmmaker

• “Yalom can tell a story and tell it so well that it is easy to forget that what one is reading is a distillation of weeks, months, even years of therapeutic work…And Yalom does it with enviable openness and style.”

  Times Literary Supplement

• “Yalom reveals much more of himself this time around… [His] therapeutic encounters, as recorded here, are often painful crucibles of personal transformation, in which people grow in unexpected ways by releasing reservoirs of guilt, fear, sadness, anger and denial.”

  Publishers Weekly

• “Psychiatrist and gifted storyteller Yalom returns with six engaging tales of psychotherapy…Whether dealing with issues raised by his memory of the quintessential Jewish mother or supporting a widow working through her grief, Yalom reveals his thoughts, feelings, and reactions with sensitive honesty.”

  Library Journal

• “Yalom, psychotherapist and author of When Nietzsche Wept and Lying on the Couch, uses his experiences with patients and his own life challenges to explore the process of psychotherapy and the search for meaning in life…Throughout, Yalom absorbingly recounts the resilience some patients bring to the task of healing themselves and is brutally frank about the limitations of modern medicine.”

  Booklist

• “A worthy sequel to the author’s bestselling Love’s Executioner…Momma and the Meaning of Life contains some truly profound observations on death, the sometimes desperate attempts to modify one’s personality so as to live more fully, and other human struggles. These six engrossing narratives are very valuable gleanings from a master therapist’s professional and personal experience.”

  Kirkus Reviews

• “This is a chance to get inside the mind of a brilliant therapist and witness the soul breaking through. Like the first light of dawn, Momma and the Meaning of Life is warm, radiant and revealing.”

  Mark Epstein, author and psychotherapist

• “Irvin Yalom brings to these splendid tales of psychotherapy his rich experience as a therapist, his broad knowledge of philosophy and literature, and his profound humanity. He draws the reader into his stories with the same skill he uses to engage his patients in therapy.”

  David Spiegel, associate chair of psychiatry at Stanford University and director of the Stanford Center on Stress and Health

• “These spellbinding tales of pain and of healing transport us into the very core of the therapeutic experience.”

  Maggie Scarf, award-winning author, journalist, and lecturer

• “Yalom continues to astonish us. Vitality, eloquence, wisdom, courage, and the capacity to listen and learn mark this book indelibly.”

  Leston Havens, psychiatrist and psychotherapist