Becoming Myself

A Psychiatrist's Memoir

By: Irvin D. Yalom

Narrated by: Peter Berkrot

Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

Best-selling writer and psychotherapist Irvin D. Yalom puts himself on the couch in a lapidary memoir

Irvin D. Yalom has made a career of investigating the lives of others. In this profound memoir, he turns his writing and his therapeutic eye on himself. He opens his story with a nightmare: He is 12 and is riding his bike past the home of an acne-scarred girl. Like every morning, he calls out, hoping to befriend her, "Hello Measles!" But in his dream, the girl's father makes Yalom understand that his daily greeting had hurt her. For Yalom, this was the birth of empathy; he would not forget the lesson. As Becoming Myself unfolds, we see the birth of the insightful thinker whose books have been a beacon to so many. This is not simply a man's life story; Yalom's reflections on his life and development are an invitation for us to reflect on the origins of our own selves and the meanings of our lives.

©2017 Irvin D. Yalom (P)2017 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Fans of this eloquent and introspective author will welcome this innermost chronicle of his history, passions, and the keys to unlocking a fruitful life." ( Kirkus Reviews)

"Irv Yalom is the psychiatrist who thinks like a philosopher and writes like the fine novelist he also happens to be. Becoming Myself delivers not only the engrossing story of one exceptional individual's life. It shines with revelations regarding life as it ought to be lived." (Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, author of Plato at the Googleplex: Why Philosophy)

Great book, wrong reader

I really enjoyed the book, but was continually irritated by the accent, whatever it’s supposed to be. Irv doesn’t talk like that. My memory of him is that he has no particular accent, except, perhaps, Californian. The reader seems to have some sort of northeast, Jewish accent, perhaps New York. I guess it’s fine if you don’t actually know Irv, but to me, the reader sonds much less sophisticated and educated.,which is a misrepresentation.

great book

such an impactful book! great writer and storyteller! too bad, the end is a bit sad.

One of the best autobiographies ever

As a therapist in training, this was invaluable. This was my first Yalom book and I will proceed to buy them all.

Inspiring for this psych nurse practitioner student

Great insight into the life of a great mental health professional. I look forward to his other books

Pulls you in

Peter Berkrot did an amazing job of narrating this book! I felt as if Yalom, himself, was speaking throughout this book. Yet another great book by Dr. Irvin D. Yalom!

Good not Great...

My initial reaction on completing the book was Yalom has had a very privileged life. A life filled with many accomplishments many high points and certainly Yalom his beloved, dare I say by hundreds of thousands of people around the world. As I sit and reflect on all that Yalom wrote about his life I have to say that while he has had lived a privileged life there has also been tragedy, there's also been sorrow and I for one am grateful that he included it in his memoir. My only real negative if it is a negative is it I felt that the book was two or three chapters too long.

This is interesting if you are fascinated by this

I loved Yalom's writing and this filled in the backstory.of his creative process as a writer, developing clinician, and human being.

Yalom Fans Rejoice

a wonderful book for any Yalom fan, big or small. He is a wonderful story teller with a lot of great wisdom.

A fantastic book

A great book that I found to be developmental and maturative for a young man coming of age. I found that this book was interesting and well written and I further highly recommend this book.

Awesome as always

Dr. Yalom has inspired so many through his work for decades. I was fortunate to see him in person during a recent APA convention and learned about his newly published memoir. I was astonished by his genuineness during the sharing session and in his book. Looking forward to reading and listening to more of his works and expecting to continuously learning from him.