Synopses & Reviews
Praise for Staring at the Sun"Irvin Yalom has written a brave, intelligent book on the last forbidden subject—death. I honor his courage and rare insight."
—Erica Jong, author, Fear of Flying, Shylock's Daughter, Inventing Memory, and Sappho's Leap
"This thoughtful treatment of the ultimate fear has much to offer people of faith, especially Western Christians. Instead of fearing death, which gave birth to religion itself, we can confront it in a true act of faith and stop denying it through fantasies of immortality. This is a wise book by a wise man about the most taboo of all subjects. Read it, and fear not."
—Robin Meyers, minister of Mayflower UCC Church of Oklahoma City, and author, Why the Christian Right Is Wrong
"Staring at the Sun is a thoughtful reinforcement of the stoicism that we all need in a time when babble and denial are all the rage."
—Christopher Hitchens, author, God Is Not Great
"Staring at the Sun looks experientially and psychodynamically at our deepest fear and describes with uncommon eloquence and deep humanity how we may arrive at a form of peace. The book is witty and kind and unflinching, a generous meditation that should give comfort to the dying and to those they leave behind."
—Andrew Solomon, author, The Noonday Demon, winner of the National Book Award
"One of America's finest therapists guides us through one of life's most challenging tasks in this profoundly helpful book. It will benefit anyone who reads it."
—Rabbi Harold Kushner, author, When Bad Things Happen to Good People
Praise for Irvin Yalom
"Yalom is the Scheherazade of the couch, his work a marvelous exercise in storytelling."
—Laura Miller, New York Times
"Irvin Yalom writes like an angel about the devils that besiege us."
—Rollo May, author, Love and Will, The Meaning of Anxiety, Man's Search for Himself, and The Courage to Create
Review
"Philosophical it is, but never arid with theory. Its lively chapters are populated with patients whose raw angst Yalom refines into vignettes that are always enlightening and often quite moving." (
Washington Post, February 24, 2008)
The philosopher Martin Heidegger once remarked that we can live intensely only if we stare death in the face every moment of our lives. Bestselling psychiatrist Yalom (Love's Executioner) attempts to put this principle into practice in a sometimes thoughtful, often repetitious book. Drawing on literature and film, as well as conversations with his patients, Yalom demonstrates how the fear of retirement, concerns about changing jobs or moving to another city, or changes in family status (such as the empty nest) are rooted in our deepest, most inescapable fear: of death. Yet, he says, this anxiety can prompt an awakening to life and help us realize our connections to others and our influence on those around us. Through such experiences we can transcend our sense of “finiteness and transiency” and live in the here and now. In a final chapter, Yalom offers instructions for therapists seeking to help their patients overcome death anxiety. Although in the 1980s Yalom, now 76, provided new insights into the human psyche with his innovative method of “existential psychotherapy,” this book recycles well-known philosophical insights, but Yalom's humane, calm voice may bring them to a new audience. (Feb.) (Publishers Weekly, November 5, 2007)
"Staring at the Sun is neither textbook nor mere self-help. Philosophical it is, but never arid with theory. Its lively chapters are populated with patients whose raw angst Yalom refines into vignettes that are always enlightening and often quite moving." -- Washington Post
"So what to do about the dread of death? ... [Yalom's] key prescriptions are true connections with others, a feeling one has lived well and "rippling" - having positive impacts and memories live on in others after you die. These deceptively obvious goals are, obviously, not easily attained: What thinking and feeling person truly lives a life with no regrets? But they are inarguably worthwhile ones." -- San Francisco Chronicle
Synopsis
Irvin Yalom is an author whose best-selling trade books and novels tell compelling, dramatic, and illuminating stories that give readers that aha moment where each of us can say yes that's me...I've felt that too...And now I understand something new that brings it all home... At 74, Yalom's new trade book is the climax of his lifework, focusing on the universal human issues of mortality and death. He suggests that what he calls the awakening experience can help us acknowledge, accept, and utilize our fear of death in a very positive manner. Such an awakening experience can be as simple as a dream, or quick as a sudden insight. It is often a loss (getting fired, divorce, having to move), a trauma (9/11, natural disasters, accidents), the death of a loved one, a personal illness, the illness of a child, terminal disease, or just plain aging. Yalom shows us how such an awakening experience can be the turning point for a more meaningful life, how people can make lasting and definitive changes in their lives after they expose their fear of death, rearrange their priorities, recognize their power to choose, communicate more deeply with those they love, appreciate more keenly the elemental beauty and value of life and eliminate interpersonal fears of rejection, and increase a willingness to take risks for personal fulfillment and a life sfilled with love. This is a book with tremendous utility, including methods and technique for dealing with the most prevalent kinds of fear of death: that which is hidden and appears to be other problems, the common feeling of neverhaving fulfilled ones dream (start now, he says, it's not too late), living in the here and now, and what he calls rippling or appreciating the influence and impact we all have that has a life beyond our own.
Synopsis
A profound and compelling work on how to overcome the universal fear of death
Irvin Yalom is an author whose New York Times bestselling books-including Love's Executioner and When Nietzsche Wept-tell illuminating stories that give readers that aha moment where each of us can say yes, that's me, I've felt that too. The 74-year-old Yalom's new book is really the climax of his life's work, a profoundly inspiring and encouraging approach to the universal human issue of mortality and death. He tells us how to understand and accept what is ultimate and inevitable for us all through what he calls the awakening experience, like a dream, a loss (getting fired, divorce, having to move), a trauma (9/11, natural disasters, accidents), the death of a loved one, illness, or just plain aging. Yalom shows us how such an awakening experience can be the turning point for a more meaningful life, inspiring people to rearrange their priorities, stop worrying about trivia, choose not to do the things they don't wish to do, communicate more deeply with those they love, appreciate more keenly the beauty of life, and increase a willingness to take risks for personal fulfillment and a life filled with love. The book includes specific methods and techniques for dealing with the most prevalent kinds of fear of death as well as advice on how to live in the here and now and appreciate the influence and impact we all have that has a life beyond our own.
Irvin D. Yalom, MD (Palo Alto, CA) is one of the most famous and highly regarded psychiatrists and authors in the world. Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine, Dr. Yalom has won numerous honors and awards for bothhis novels and nonfiction. He is the author of two New York Times bestsellers, Love's Executioner (978-0-06-095834-3) and When Nietzsche Wept (978-0-06-074812-8).
Synopsis
Staring at the SunFrom the acclaimed author of the best-selling Love's Executioner, The Gift of Therapy, and When Nietzsche Wept comes an inspiring book that confronts the most demanding challenge we all face: overcoming the terror of death.
Written in Irv Yalom's inimitable story-telling style, Staring at the Sun is a profoundly encouraging approach to the universal issue of mortality. In this magisterial opus, capping a lifetime of work and personal experience, Dr. Yalom helps us recognize that the fear of death is at the heart of much of our anxiety. Such recognition is often catalyzed by an "awakening experience"—a dream, or loss (the death of a loved one, divorce, loss of a job or home), illness, trauma, or aging.
Once we confront our own mortality, Dr. Yalom writes, we are inspired to rearrange our priorities, communicate more deeply with those we love, appreciate more keenly the beauty of life, and increase our willingness to take the risks necessary for personal fulfillment.
Filled with touching personal stories of people who are grappling with the terror of death—including the author—Staring at the Sun offers specific methods to cope with terror and is ultimately life affirming. Most important, Dr. Yalom encourages us to strive for more direct engagement with others. Compassionate connection, combined with the wisdom of the great thinkers who have wrestled with mortality, enables us to overcome the terror of death and lead happier, more meaningful lives.
Synopsis
Written in Irv Yalom’s inimitable story-telling style,
Staring at the Sunis a profoundly encouraging approach to the universal issue of mortality. In this magisterial opus, capping a lifetime of work and personal experience, Dr. Yalom helps us recognize that the fear of death is at the heart of much of our anxiety. Such recognition is often catalyzed by an “awakening experience”—a dream, or loss (the death of a loved one, divorce, loss of a job or home), illness, trauma, or aging.
Once we confront our own mortality, Dr. Yalom writes, we are inspired to rearrange our priorities, communicate more deeply with those we love, appreciate more keenly the beauty of life, and increase our willingness to take the risks necessary for personal fulfillment.
Synopsis
Written in Irv Yalom's inimitable story-telling style,
Staring at the Sun is a profoundly encouraging approach to the universal issue of mortality. In this magisterial opus, capping a lifetime of work and personal experience, Dr. Yalom helps us recognize that the fear of death is at the heart of much of our anxiety. Such recognition is often catalyzed by an "awakening experience"—a dream, or loss (the death of a loved one, divorce, loss of a job or home), illness, trauma, or aging.
Once we confront our own mortality, Dr. Yalom writes, we are inspired to rearrange our priorities, communicate more deeply with those we love, appreciate more keenly the beauty of life, and increase our willingness to take the risks necessary for personal fulfillment.
About the Author
Irvin D. Yalom, M.D., is Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine. The author of the definitive textbooks The Theory and Practice of Psychotherapy and Existential Psychotherapy, Dr. Yalom also wrote the New York Times best seller Love's Executioner and the international best-selling novel When Nietzsche Wept.
Table of Contents
Preface and Acknowledgments.
Chapter 1. The Mortal Wound.
Chapter 2. Recognizing Death Anxiety.
Chapter 3. The Awakening Experience.
Chapter 4. The Power of Ideas.
Chapter 5. Overcoming Death Terror Through Connection.
Chapter 6. Death Awareness: A Memoir.
Chapter 7. Addressing Death Anxiety: Advice for Therapists.
Afterword.
Notes.
About the Author.
A Reader’s Guide to Staring at the Sun.
Index.