On the Couch: Great American Stories About Therapy

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