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Tuesday 9 April 2013

The Examined Life by Stephen Grosz

Stephen Grosz tells stories about the people he meets in his psychoanalytic work, and this is a fascinating insight into the secret lives of people who would be outwardly judged as successful and ‘sorted’.   These accounts demonstrate just how wrong appearances can be.  One of the most striking stories is that of a wife and mother who is trying to become pregnant to keep in a job the nanny with whom she is having an affair.  This is just one example of the personal stories which are in turns surprising, shocking and sad.  Not exactly an uplifting read, this is almost voyeuristic but just the right level of detail keeps it from being intrusive.