Books like A Hard Place to Leave

I heard Marilyn Monroe in everything Holly Golightly said. I heard her witticisms. Turned out Truman Capote wrote it using Marilyn’s voice.

Holly, a hooker, her protagonist (apartment neighbor) was an in-the-closet gay man. Holly would climb the fire escape and crawl into his room and snuggle in bed with him as if they were lovers. She never denied she was a hooker – but never hid that she had standards and would expect fifty-dollar tips for washroom attendants.

This novella, as does Grapes and Old Man, demonstrates to me the stage play of life we choose to be in is in acts—we know our assets, limitations and to survive we follow them—in Grapes pickers followed a dream to orange groves—in Old Man—a fisher needed to prove he could get his luck back—and in Tiffany—if she could find playgrounds of the rich, she’d survive.

I have always considered Philip Roth to be a master stylist and, even more, a brilliant author of the way that characters think and feel. This book is also wonderful for the way its ironies unfold in a story that is riveting, disturbing, and revealing.

I am intrigued by the way that Roth can confront important social issues. Even though this was written several years ago, I find it to be particularly relevant to the debates about diversity that seem to concern us most as a society today.

Oh the joys of Saul Steinberg’s drawings! More psychologically attuned than most therapy books or self-help, Steinberg’s illustrations are brilliant illuminations of what goes on in the inner lives of human beings.

I want to play and celebrate and express and engage with nature when I look at this book, and seeing my internal angst depicted visually consoles me. As a psychotherapist, I cherish words but I also see the limitations of language. It’s liberating to see what can’t always be described.

As for the labyrinth theme, it’s universal and shockingly apt as a metaphor for what goes on in our emotional lives – we are so often seduced by labyrinths – we get drawn into situations and patterns that feel impossible to resolve and yet somehow too hard to leave.

Our inner conflicts are full of mazes we feel we can’t exit but also can’t sort out – should… show more.

Soaring and powerful, this is the story of my beloved friend and his disability. He’s also gay. He’s spent his life feeling trapped by reductive definitions along with his physical challenges.

His writing is joyous and giddy with freedom. He sees everything and feels life’s social nuances with piercing insights. Everyone should read this book not just because it’s poignant and profoundly edifying but also because it’s written so darn well. Words jump and dance and reading this feels like flying.

There’s a pace and excitement even at haunting moments and joy and beauty sit with sorrow and pain in such a real, relatable way, it’s much more about lived experience than any psychological study I’ve come across on this subject.

There’s depth and air throughout. I don’t always like the writing of people I know, and I don’t always like the people whose writing I admire. What a wonderful… show more.

What I loved about this book is the freedom in its message.

People may change, and people may never change. Either way, they do not have to change for me to find peace. I am not responsible for someone else's emotional well-being, nor do I need to shape myself to fit into their expectations, wounds, or emotional voids.

The title itself says it all: let them. There is a great deal of freedom in that.

In a no-nonsense way, the author points out humans’ flawed thinking and ego-driven way of life proving that changes need to happen to find true happiness. She offers simple steps to recognize and deal with these flaws—acknowledging that it won't be easy. 

Because of this book, I’m interacting differently with other people! I’m trying to be grateful for everyday things, listen actively, be curious instead of reacting, and look inward when I feel triggered. This book will help you work toward empathy with people different from you, which is so important in this divisive world.

This book, and a couple of seminars with Byron Katie, really did change my life! I was stuck in negative thinking and couldn’t seem to get out of it. She offers a straightforward method to challenge your thoughts and turn them around to other possibilities. It‘s almost magical how your hurtful beliefs can be changed into accepting “the way it is” without the hurt.

Get this book and get some relief from whatever is bothering you. Truly.

I actually read this book after writing my book, and I was struck by how many parallels there were between Geneen Roth's work and my own journey.

What I love most is that she keeps digging deeper. Deeper than the next diet. Deeper than the next weight-loss goal. Deeper than binge eating or food itself. 

She invites the reader to look at the deeper void we are often trying to fill through changing our bodies, achieving a certain weight, or searching for the next solution. I found that perspective both thought-provoking and illuminating.

This book was special to me because it redefined what intention meant compared to how we usually describe it. Expressing intention as energy and creation rather than success and work shows how beautiful and all-encompassing it can be.

I could tune into my inner belief systems and see how I could manifest and affirm more positive goals for myself and invest more authentically into my relationships with others. Intention is such a powerful word, and Dyer gives practical ways of conceptualizing and applying it daily.

This book is a series of short essays, each of which can be a prayer or affirmation itself. They read like perfect affirmations: “Let the Goodness of God Take Over,” “God’s Abundance Is Yours Now!” “Choose to Believe the Best,” “There Is Nothing to Fear!” Several months ago, I was feeling extremely lonely. At random, I opened to Kupferle’s essay “God’s Abundance is Yours Now!” and read, “God is the infinite source of your supply.” I kept repeating this affirmation. Two weeks later in the gym, another woman greeted me, reminding me that we’d met in the gym many months earlier. We quickly discovered much in common, as well as a wonderful mutual admiration. Since then, we’ve gotten together many times and continue to enjoy and help each other. Kuperfle works!