Really enjoyed how the author gave both sides of the experience of being in therapy. Very clever method and gave it lots of interest. ( )

I really enjoyed this read. But, I did wonder how the author could reveal so much about her patients, even with name changes. I wondered how much of their stories were real or disguised. Still, I found all the stories and each patient’s personal journey (including the author’s) interesting. Reminded me of the old HBO show In Treatment which the author references at one point in the book. ( )

Just a few observations:

I was more interested in Lori's patients than Lori herself, though I did really like Wendell as a character.

I stayed up way too late finishing this.

I cried and cried when Julie died.

I couldn't get it out of my head that John was Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner.

I believe almost everyone could benefit from therapy and this book confirmed that. ( )

I have mixed feelings about this book. The parts where Gottlieb described her own patients were interesting enough to keep me reading, but I really couldn't have cared less about Gottlieb's life or her sessions with her own therapist. (He seemed very annoying, in fact.)

There were a couple of interesting bits here and there about psychotherapy, but if that's why you're reading the book, you'll likely be disappointed.

Actually, my favorite couple of paragraphs in the entire book were about Gottlieb experiencing an undiagnosed illness, which I can relate to. ( )

The best memoirs are the ones that suck me in from the first page and pull me into the person's life through a combination of heartfelt storytelling, a vivid cast of characters, and aching vulnerability. The last memoir that did this for me was Orange Is The New Black, and now Gottlieb's book (which, interestingly, has also been optioned for a TV show).

I admit to enjoying the stories about Gottlieb's patients slightly more than her own, which felt self-indulgent. But I fell in love with all her patients; their neuroses and vulnerability and deep human need to be seen and understood. I adored Julie, the dying cancer patient; Rita, the senior citizen with a life full of regrets; and Charlotte, the lost millennial looking for love in all the wrong places. But the person I loved the most was John. His story, his personal growth, and his eventual tenderness brought me to tears more than once.

I loved this voyeuristic look at what goes on behind the closed doors of a therapist's office. I'm grateful to Gottlieb and her clients for pulling aside the curtain and proving that no matter how different our individual life experiences may have been, we all struggle with the same vital things: death, loneliness, freedom, and meaninglessness. ( )