Searching for Soul: A Survivor's Guide [Paperback]

Bobbe Tyler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 14, 2009

To dive deep into your inner life. To explore what matters most: wisdom, happiness, the pain of loss, self-accountability, aging, and more.Searching for Soul: A Survivor's Guideis a breathtakingly honest case study: a self-examination resulting in the discovery of a meaningful life.

Bobbe Tyler blends her story with in-depth commentary, framing each chapter as a response to one of a set of questions, appended to the book, entitledThe Harvesting Wisdom Interview. In her search for fulfillment, Tyler asks and answers the most difficult questions about the trauma of mental illness, divorce, financial and emotional despair. The rewards of this hard-won wisdom belong not to her alone but by way of her unflinching examination of life's many paths, dead ends, and circuitous routes — to anyone who has faced a life-choice gone wrong — or known the indescribable recovery from addiction or abuse, or longed for the peace that seems just out of reach. This searing self-appraisal provides hope and fellowship for those who seek to know themselves better.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Though our lives and hearts are often fraught, each page of Bobbe Tyler’s book offers some new invitation to grow our appreciation and gratitude for the ungraspable, nitty–gritty miracle of being a human being. The insights she shares with us about relationships, regrets, losses, the joys of finding oneself—all the stuff that life is made of—ring true in the convincing language of an individual who has won her authenticity and learned that life, just as it is, is so much more than she—or we—can ever imagine.”
James Finley — clinical psychologist and author of Merton’s Palace of Nowhere and The Contemplative Heart

“Bobbe Tyler has taken a deeply considered, thoroughly honest look into her own cul–de–sacs—painful transitions that finally released the reality of her soul. Her readers will find themselves asking questions about their own life patterns… A compelling journey written in depth with intelligence and infinite love.“
Marion Woodman — Jungian analyst, author of Bone: Dying into Life

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Bobbe Tyler is a nonfiction writer and retired communications coordinator who worked for several corporations including Lucasfilm, Ltd. and the Times Mirror Company. She lives in Cambria, California.

Product Details

• Paperback: 248 pages
• Publisher: Swallow Press; 1 edition (July 14, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804011192
• ISBN-13: 978-0804011198
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,721,884 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nothing Succeeds Like Success, September 13, 2009

By 

Lawrence Frankley (Los Angeles CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Searching for Soul: A Survivor's Guide (Paperback)

On the surface the struggle was superfluous. The writer's life albeit with two divorces looked like a successful sojourn with a few bumps along the way. So why a search for soul? Read the book and discover that not everyone's life is what it seems; in fact, probably very few lives are what they seem.

Bobbe Tyler can write and the tale she tells is not only intriguing and enthralling; it is a valuable piece of literature. Granted the average reader may require a dictionary at the ready, but the agony and the joy make the time spent one full of revelation and reward. Likely no one can read the book and not find some of themselves in the pages. This sort of honesty is not present in the modern memoir nor is the sufferer often so clearly described. True, for better or for worse the author is a Jungian devotee and the book relies on academic psychology. Still, the reach into the - shall we call it the soul - is a lesson for all of us. Face up to what's going on inside - Make decisions for the inside - `Play the game for all it's worth'. Read the book - you're bound to benefit.

At the end of the day we are left with a question: Now what Ms. Tyler?

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Searching for soul? Search no further!, September 14, 2009

By 

Paola Gianturco (Mill Valley, California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Searching for Soul: A Survivor's Guide (Paperback)

Bobbe Tyler's first book is a tour de force. It's courageous, honest, engaging and inspiring.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Becoming Conscious, Becoming Whole, September 14, 2009

By 

Nancy Vincent Zinke (Cambria, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Searching for Soul: A Survivor's Guide (Paperback)

There is a compassionate generosity coursing through Bobbe Tyler's book, "Searching for Soul: a survivor's guide", an essence of humility. Her open-heartedness leaves nothing to hide, nothing unexamined, no stone unturned. Deep intelligence combines with wit and ease, inviting readers to visit her inner space (and our own), carefully guiding us through tricky terrain and into areas of profound understanding. Each of her seventeen chapters opens a different doorway into the psyche, each stands on its own, and each is worth a nice, long visit. Finally, and most importantly, she offers her readers a simple yet challenging gift, saying, in effect, "Here's how I did it. You can, too."