Books like Lying on the Couch

I'm going to go ahead and give this five stars. It's not a perfect book, certainly not from a literary point of view. It was didactic at times, occasionally draggy with lengthy lecture-like dialogue and inner monologue, and some of its plot twists were highly contrived. But I don't think Yalom was trying to write a perfect novel, or if he was, that goal was secondary. What he was trying to do, according to an interview I read, is carve out a new genre -- what he calls the "teaching novel." It's an ambitious feat, and I feel he succeeded brilliantly.The novel itself follows two parallel stories of clients lying to their gullible therapists, who for their part are struggling with boundary issues. The main plot focuses on Ernest, a psychopharmacologist-turned-beginner-psychotherapist, considering a career in psychoanalysis but starting to have doubts about the artificiality and rigidity of the relationship. As a therapist, Ernest would like to experiment with being more genuine, human, and transparent in the therapy room. This goal leaves him ripe for the machinations of Carol, a vengeful ex-wife whose husband, Ernest's patient, has left her thanks in part to Ernest's empowerment. Carol, the original hell-hath-no-fury dame, enters therapy with Ernest under false premises (and using an alias) so she can seduce him and subsequently ruin his career. Alas, Ernest's resolution to experiment with abandoning the traditional neutral stance makes it increasingly tricky for him to navigate Carol's aggressively seductive advances.The subplot follows Ernest's supervisor, Marshal, an orthodox psychoanalyst who is critical of Ernest's renegade experimentation with deviating from the traditional neutral stance. Marshal is a stickler for the boundaries and rules imposed by psychoanalytic theory. He is also ruthlessly pursuing political advancement in the psychoanalytic society with little regard for his relationships with some of his colleagues, a classic example of someone who insists on the letter of the law while violating its spirit. A wealthy patient manages to convince Marshal to invest a significant amount of money with him -- a quintessential example of dual roles, although in a moment of weakness Marshal accepts the patient's ethically questionable justification that therapy is terminating and the therapeutic relationship is no longer relevant. This initial weakening leads to other ethical slips and boundary violations on Marshal's part, with far-reaching consequences.These plots were certainly intriguing, and the characters were multifaceted and real although I found Carol's personality a little too changeable. For me, though, the book's main weaknesses on a literary level -- its lengthy, agenda-driven dialogue and asides -- were also its strengths on a didactic level. Using his characters as mouthpieces, Yalom explored some fascinating questions: Is it ever okay to sleep with a patient? How about a former patient? How about a patient you saw 10 years ago, briefly, in group therapy? How about investing money with a former patient -- what's really wrong with that? Which therapist is right – the one who rigidly embraces technique at the expense of creativity and individuality, or the maverick who ignores technique and strikes out on his own, taking risks and muddying the ethical waters? When, and to what degree, is self-disclosure on the part of the therapist appropriate? What are the advantages and disadvantages of maintaining a neutral stance, as opposed to relating to the client on a more human level?Yalom doesn't provide easy answers to these questions. Instead, he has his characters ruminate about them and debate them at length, raising many intelligent points on all sides and fleshing out the complexity of these issues. These long-winded discussions and asides do little to advance the plot or deepen the characterization, but they definitely stimulate thought and educate the reader about Yalom's therapy approaches. More educational than a novel, more interesting than a textbook -- I give Yalom full points for creating this genre and providing us with an excellent example of its potential.