Paths of Life: Seven Scenarios

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Pantheon Books, 1998 - Family & Relationships - 188 pages
"Her writing is lovely, and speaks to the nature of the human soul."--Newsday

From the world-famous Swiss psychologist whose bookThe Drama of the Gifted Childhas become a classic, here are seven "life stories" exploring the countless ways in which our families and our childhood experiences form us and turn us into the people we are today.

How do early experiences of love or suffering affect our adult relationships? What effect is child abuse likely to have on the victim's later life? How does hatred evolve and take root? How do people develop into cult leaders or political tyrants? Through the seven hypothetical scenarios and two essays that make up Paths of Life, Miller examines these questions and many others. Her narratives demonstrate that with knowledge and understanding of our past we have the power to change our future, freeing ourselves from the curse of repeating our parents' mistakes. In this, her eighth book, Alice Miller has given us yet another wise and profound study of the inestimable importance of childhood.

"Alice Miller wrote the book on narcissistic parents and the havoc they wreak on children. Twenty years later, she's still on the case with a new book and even more radical ideas."--Mirabella


From the Trade Paperback edition.

From inside the book

Contents

Thirty Years Later
3
Really Welcome
23
Something Ventured Something Gained
38
Copyright

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About the author (1998)

Alice Miller was born in Lwow, Poland on January 12, 1923. She studied philosophy and literature at the University of Warsaw, which operated underground during the war. After the war, she continued her studies at the University of Basel and received a doctorate in 1953. After undergoing Freudian psychiatric training, she went into practice as a psychoanalyst. She believed that parental power and punishment lay at the root of nearly all human problems. By the time she wrote her first book, she had stopped practicing psychiatry. Her works include The Drama of the Gifted Child; The Truth Shall Set You Free; Banished Knowledge: Facing Childhood Injuries; For Your Own Good: Hidden Cruelty in Child-Rearing and the Roots of Violence; Thou Shalt Not Be Aware: Society's Betrayal of the Child; The Untouched Key; The Body Never Lies: The Lingering Effects of Cruel Parenting; Breaking Down the Wall of Silence; and Free From Lies: Discovering Your True Needs. She died on April 14, 2010 at the age of 87.

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