Irvin D. Yalom has spent his entire professional life exploring the lives of others. In his memoirs, he turns his therapeutic gaze on himself. He begins his story with a nightmare: he is twelve years old and riding his bike past the house where a girl with prominent acne lives. Just like every morning, he calls out to her in an attempt to befriend her: 'Hi, Beďarka!' But in the dream, the girl's father explains to him that this greeting hurts her. It was then that empathy was born in Yalom. This book is not merely a description of one life. Yalom revisits his clients and the books he has written. However, what is most important are the relationships he has experienced and continues to experience. He speaks of his wife, whom he met when a friend pulled him through the window of the house where her family's party was taking place, and with whom he has lived for over 65 years. He reflects on various journeys he took with his wife, whether it was their honeymoon, during which they rented an old Vespa and traveled through France, or the trip to Bali they took to celebrate their youngest child leaving home. He reflects on his life and work, sadly discussing the breakdown of his children's marriages and how he and Marylin built their relationship and overcame various crises. His book is also a reflection of the field. He mentions a number of...
