"Mother and the Meaning of Life" is the second book of narratives by Irvin Yalom, following "The Gift of Therapy". With bold honesty, the psychiatrist-author brings to life here, in his most personal of books, his limitations and mistakes, his fantasies, doubts, and experiments, and through them the journey towards understanding, learning, and ultimately teaching. Four true/autobiographical stories and two fictional narratives featuring the protagonist Ernest Lash, the psychotherapist of the novel "In the Diving Bell", compose a mosaic of gripping situations that constantly move within and beyond the boundaries of psychotherapy, exploring from yet another perspective the inexhaustible issues of life and death, freedom and responsibility, the meaning of existence and its loss, loneliness and society.

"Irvin Yalom brings to these wonderful stories of psychotherapy his rich experience as a therapist, his extensive knowledge of philosophy and literature, and his profound humanity. He entices the reader to enter these stories with the same skill with which he involves his patients in psychotherapy."
(David Spiegel, M.D., author of "Living Beyond Limits")

"Irvin Yalom continues to surprise us. Vitality, careful language, deep knowledge, courage, and an ability to listen and learn are the indelible characteristics of this book."
(Leston Havens, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard University and Cambridge Hospital)

"These enchanting narratives of pain and healing transport us to the heart of the therapeutic experience."
(Maggie Scarf, author of "Intimate Worlds")