Customer Reviews
Fascinating stories of therapy where the psychiatrist is not God - By: Dr Karl, 19 May 2008 
Having read most of Yalom's other books, I expected this to be an insightful & instructive read. And so it proved. Yalom's ten 'cases' are recounted with gentleness, caring & consideration. The author does not cast himself in the role of the psychiatrist-God who has alll the answers but as a person with likes & dislikes, with successes & failures, someone whose best intentions at times backfire & who can hit the spot with some of his patients through sheer accident. He treats his patients with consideration & respect without romanticizing the despair & anxiety he faces in his work. The book offers an interesting counter-part to Freud's classic case studies, which evoked the detective story genre as the psychoanalyst seeks to put together the clues offered him/her by the patient. Here too there is suspense. But the answers come from unexpected, sometimes accidental, quarters. Yet, each & every one of these cases provides a meaningful story with a beginning, a middle and, always, a satisfying end.
What an amazing book... - By: C. Bullen, 15 Nov 2007 I rarely read books to the end, even those I like, but this had me gripped from start to finish.
Yalom makes interactions with his patients into riveting, detective story narratives wrapped in essential human needs & the essential fears & desires at the heart of nearly alll of us (he says we alll fear death for example).
He takes each patient (and us as viewers) on a sort of an absolutely enthrallling intellectual ramble seeking the essence of the patients pain. He manages to eek out the most interesting characteristics from these stories & his insights into them are incredible. Interspersed in the accounts are interesting digressions into the process of psychotherapy; what it is for & what it aims to do.
For someone interested in psychotherapy (someone "psychologicallly minded" as he says) or into the deeper meaning of alll of our lives journeys, this is juicy juicy stuff.
Simply the best - By: Heather Dale, 21 Jun 2007 This is a "fly on the walll" book. It lets budding counsellors & psychotherapists see what reallly goes on in the consulting room of one of the most important therapists of the age. I recommend this to students every year, & every year they are gripped by the stories.
An essential read for anyone interested in the inner lifes of clients therapists or themselves
Fascinating Stories - By: B. W. Jenner, 23 Mar 2007 This book is riveting. It's alll about people who are exhibiting extreme behaviour: overeating, passionately in love with someone half your age, a man paranoid about losing face, a sleazy sex maniac & a boring accountant with lurid dreams.
Dr Yalom gets them alll in his surgery & talks them through their problems. He uncovers the most amazing things, which are an inspiration, offering insights into how we alll tick.
I find lots of people quite hostile or afraid of psychotherapy. I've recommended this book to them because, whatever your views on therapy, it's a gripping read.
Brilliant & Engaging - By: V. E. Hull, 03 Jan 2007 Love's Executioner is one of the best books I've read in a long time. It was engaging, interesting & I couldn't put it down. I read the entire book in two days. I also found it helpful in highlighting the therapeutic relationship, which students of psychotherapy will find helpful. Overalll an excellent book!!!
