Schopenhauer's Porcupines

the long version

"Are human beings destined to find perfect complements in love or are we more like the fabled porcupines - forever jostling for a place between painful involvement and loveless isolation? That is the question at the heart of this stunning new book. "People seek therapy when things have gone terribly wrong in their lives," observes Deborah Anna Luepnitz, a gifted therapist and a writer of uncommon talent. "They arrive in the grip of a death wish or some unspeakable obsession, but what is at stake always turns out to be intimacy - the endless dilemmas of loyalty and desire."" "Schopenhauer's Porcupines recounts five stories from Luepnitz's practice, with patients who range from the super-rich to the homeless - as they grapple with panic attacks, psychosomatic illness, marital despair and sexual recklessness. Intimate, original and triumphantly funny, Schopenhauer's Porcupines goes further than any other book in unveiling the secrets of "how talking helps.""--Jacket.