The Thief of Happiness: The Story of an Extraordinary Psychotherapy

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely compelling and beautiful
Review: Bonnie Friedman's book is mesmerizing in its honesty about the "warts and all" experience of an intense psychotherapy. She has the strength and courage to write about the details that matter in the patient-therapist relationship: how everything becomes imbued with emotion, from the bottoms of one's own feet to the pictures on the wall of the therapist's office. She turns such seemingly tiny moments into a page-turning narrative. Her prose is beautiful, her insights surprising, and again, always so honest. I am grateful to the author for putting this book into the world.

Rating:
Summary: Hits the nail on the head
Review: Finally, a gifted writer conveys exactly what powerful therapy is really like! So many millions of people have been telling their secrets in darkened offices in pursuit of transformation, yet that sense of secrecy has kept anyone from openly conveying this extraordinary experience until now. And just our luck, Bonnie Friedman is the one that decided to do it. After reading her first book, Writing Past Dark, I would have been delighted to read her on any subject. She has such a wonderful ability to create an engrossing world and intrigue you through it with a sense of fresh discovery.

Rating:
Summary: Zero Stars Was Not An Option
Review: Now that Bonnie Friedman has successfully completed therapy, hopefully this review will not bother her. Sitting in with Friedman and her therapist Dr. Sing for almost the entire 274 pages is tedious at best. The book is an extremely thorough and intelligent demonstration of the therapy process. However, to those unfamiliar with the therapy process, this book will likely come across as very self-absorbed and whiney, fostering the stereo-type that those in therapy are self-centered individuals who spend time blaming their issues on others. The book is also painfully detailed. For instance, descriptions of the four-hour car journey to the therapist's office left me feeling like I was driving the four hours. Spend your money on therapy, not this book!!!