Group : Six People in Search of a Life [Hardcover]

Paul Solataroff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2, 1999

Six bright, successful, and remarkably self-destructive people enter into a course of dynamic group therapy in an effort to recognize and overcome their compulsions, addictions, weaknesses, and family legacies. Granted unlimited access to the sessions and the patients' lives, journalist Paul Solotaroff captures an utterly compelling real-life drama as it unfolds. Against a ticking clock -- the prescribed period of treatment is ten months -- a wide range of human tragedy and comedy plays out, imbuing Group with the pacing of a thriller as we learn, finally, who triumphs and who is beyond help.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"It's painful to listen to yourself, at least in the beginning, but the alternative is endless suffering," says Dr. Lathon (a pseudonym), the therapist of this group. This book is not a self-help text, says author Paul Solotaroff, but a "work of narrative journalism" documenting six people living through a year of group therapy. The people and their problems are real, but their identities are disguised to protect their anonymity. Solotaroff, who was a participant in an earlier group with Lathon, is a creative, accomplished writer who brings the people to life visually as well as orally. Lathon "looked like a man with his own Learjet, or the maitre d' at a restaurant you couldn't afford." You get to know Lathon's humor, insights, and commentary on his patients. His number-one rule is hard work; next is fearless honesty. The six group members are intriguing, witty, dramatic, and in pain--like characters in an Edward Albee play. Their troubles run the gamut: substance abuse, infidelity, embezzlement, emotional abuse, loneliness, unfinished business with parents. If you've been wondering how group therapy works and what you might learn about yourself, you'll get plenty of insights. If you just like to eavesdrop on other people baring their souls of troubled, intimate details, you'll get that here, too. --Joan Price

From Publishers Weekly

In this perceptive account of how a group of strangers came together over the course of a year to regain a sense of equilibrium in their fast-track lives, journalist Solotaroff provides an inside look at the "talking cure." The occasionally combustible cast of six patients, afflicted with a laundry list of private demons, childhood traumas, addictions and phobias, duel with one another and with their volatile group leader, psychopharmacologist Charles Lathon. (According to the agreement hammered out between Solotaroff and Lathon, who reluctantly allowed the author to monitor the meetings, verbatim exchanges between the group members appear in the book, though names and identifying information have been altered.) The eclectic group includes an emotionally withdrawn former model, an obnoxious Wall Street whiz with a yen for coke, an overwhelmed children's rights activist in a bitter divorce fight, a boozed-out rock musician, a wimpy accountant and a slumping Broadway producer with an embezzlement rap haunting his comeback. Lathon's approach, based on "rational optimism," spurred the group members to challenge their self-imposed barriers and to accept the possibility of eventually mastering their frantic lives. Pulling back with an impassive eye, Solotaroff lets the reader experience the highly charged exchanges between these damaged soulsAand their well-earned epiphanies. Raw and surprisingly candid, these are real individuals fighting some of life's harshest battles; not everyone survives emotionally to tell the tale. The wealth of surprises at the book's conclusion will keep readers riveted up to the last page. (Aug.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 339 pages
• Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover; 1St Edition edition (August 2, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573220655
• ISBN-13: 978-1573220651
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #175,573 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Keenly observed, elegantly written, November 15, 1999

By 

Stephen Chakwin (Norwalk, CT USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Group : Six People in Search of a Life (Hardcover)

This is a fine book, tracing the progress of group therapy involving six participants and the group leader, a psychiatrist qualified as a psychopharmocologist. The author is an acute observer of human behavior and offers deft sketches of these intelligent and troubled people and of their equally intelligent and equally troubled leader. His exploration of the dynamics of the group and of the actions of its members is acute and compassionate and his writing is fresh and articulate. This is a richly-drawn,carefully observed sketch of human pathology and recovery. It will be hard to avoid recognizing aspects of yourself in all of these characters. The writing is clear and unobtrusively elegant. Read and enjoy.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A moving and credible portrait of group therapy., September 11, 1999

By 

Michael Altshuler (Hastings-on-Hudson, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Group : Six People in Search of a Life (Hardcover)

As a practicing group therapist, active group member and teacher of group therapy, I was delighted to read Paul Solotaroff's account of one group's experience in therapy.

Initially, I expected little, but within minutes I was transported. Mr. Solotaroff has provided the interested reader with a fascinating portrait of the guts of group therapy. He has a keen eye for detail, a sure grasp of language and a great feeling for the drama of group life. Vividly depicting his subject's self-destructive impasses and the group's healing power, Solotaroff should be commended for his contribution to the very small literature of what group therapy actually "looks like."

To be sure this is not everybody's group therapy experience. There are many approaches and styles of doing group. But this book captures something beyond theraputic ideology. It gets at the root forces which move people to seek groups as pathways to growth and change. For that alone, this book deserves five stars.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Valuable Read, April 1, 2000

By 

Laine S. (Seattle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Group : Six People in Search of a Life (Hardcover)

For those of us who sometimes need to be reminded that even glamorous New Yorkers don't have it all figured out, this book was excellent. While I realize that Solitarfoff has his own biases, it was helpful to see that even he was able to continue learning and growing as the book progresses, particularly in his relationship with the therapist. A fine read for those interested in the growth of everyday human beings.