The publication of Creatures of a Day is reason to celebrate. --
Steven Pinker
In this stunning collection of stories, renowned psychiatrist Irvin D.
Yalom describes his patients' struggles -- as well as his own -- to come
to terms with the two great challenges of existence: how to have a
meaningful life yet reckon with its inevitable end. We meet a nurse who
must stifle the pain of losing her son in order to comfort her patients'
pains, a newly minted psychologist whose studies damage her treasured
memories of a lost friend, and a man whose rejection of psychological
inquiry forces even Yalom himself into a crisis of confidence.
Creatures of a Day is a radically honest statement about the
difficulties of human life, but also a celebration of some of the finest
fruits -- love, family, friendship -- it can offer. Marcus Aurelius has
written that we are all creatures of a day. With Yalom as our guide, we
will find the means to make our own day not only bearable, but also
meaningful and joyful.