The examined life cover

The examined life

by Stephen Grosz

In his work as a practicing psychoanalyst, the author has spent the last twenty-five years uncovering the hidden feelings behind the most baffling human behavior. This book distils more than 50,000 hours of conversation into pure psychological insight without the jargon. At its core, this book is about one ordinary process: talking, listening, and understanding. Its stories unveil a delicate self-portrait of the analyst at work and show how lessons learned in the consulting room can reveal as much to the analyst as to the patient.

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Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?