On the Couch: Great American Stories about Therapy - Paperback

by Erica Kates (Editor)

There is perhaps nothing more quintessentially twentieth century than therapy, a process that explores the depths of the psyche and the seemingly mundane, intimate dramas of everyday life. On the Couch eavesdrops on the therapeutic process as some of America's best-known writers take the reader into the charged and sacred space between patient and analyst. On the Couch provides nineteen separate windows into this intensely private experience. From the heroine in Lorrie Moore's "If Only Bert Were Here," who can, hilariously, barely keep straight the twisted lies she tells her therapist about her romantic entanglements, these stories examine not only therapy, but the problems of love, loss, lies, dependence, and limitations. "Eavesdrop on the therapeutic process as eighteen world-class storytellers take the reader into the charged space between patient and analyst."-Elle

Back Jacket

The therapist's office remains one of the few private places in our world. On the Couch, a scintillating collection of contemporary American short stories, provides nineteen separate windows onto this intensely private experience, from the heroine in Lorrie Moore's "If Only Bert Were Here", who cannot recover from the death of her beloved cat (and who lists Haagen-Dazs as a distinct stage of mourning), to the couple in John Updike's "The Fairy Godfathers", whose passion requires the presence of their respective therapists, to the protagonist of Stephen McCauley's "The Whole Truth", who can, hilariously, barely keep straight the twisted lies she tells her therapist about her romantic entanglements.