Should You Leave?: A Psychiatrist Explores Intimacy and Autonomy--and the Nature of Advice - Softcover

Kramer, Peter

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140272798 ISBN 13: 9780140272796

Publisher: Penguin, 1999

Synopsis

In his phenomenal bestseller "Listening to Prozac," Peter Kramer explored the makeup of the modern self. Now, in his superbly written new book, he focuses his intelligent, compassionate eye on the complexities of partnerships and why intimacy is so difficult for us. With the art of a novelist and the skill of a brilliant psychiatrist, Kramer addresses advice seekers struggling with such complex questions as: How do we choose our partners? How well do we know them? How do mood states affect our assessment of them and theirs of us? What does "working on a relationship" truly entail? When should we try to improve a relationship, and when should we leave? Equally at home with Shakespeare, Emerson, and Kierkegaard as it is with Freud and Jung, "Should You Leave?" is a literary tour de force from a uniquely insightful observer and a profoundly resonant and helpful approach to resolving dilemmas of the heart.

About this title

Product Description:

Title: Should You Leave?( A Psychiatrist Explores Intimacy and Autonomy--And the Nature of Advice) <>Binding: Paperback <>Author: PeterD.Kramer <>Publisher: PenguinBooks

Review:

Uniquely conceived and utterly refreshing, Peter Kramer (Listening to Prozac) breaks the mould of most advice books with Should You Leave? Expect no authoritative voice retreating behind labels or manufactured jargon. Instead, in a series of fictive sessions with imaginary advisees, Kramer illlustrates complex problems; each one lets him give a different style of advice--from Freud's to Ann Lander's. The central question pushes the limits of traditional "silent therapy": can a direct, simple response to any problem of the heart be valuable?

Should You Leave? moves fluidly between discussions of psychological theory and imaginative flights, revealing both a wide body of knowledge and compassion. Kramer's questions, framed with sensitivity and irreverence, challenge our cultural fixation on autonomy and assertiveness. Given these, how can intimacy thrive?

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0140272798
• ISBN 13: 9780140272796
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336