| Synopsis Dr. Gordon Livingston’s national bestseller, Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart, has drawn tens of thousands of readers who have embraced its thirty bedrock truths about life and how best to live it. Now, in And Never Stop Dancing,
Dr. Livingston — a Vietnam War veteran, psychiatrist, and parent twice
bereaved — offers thirty more true things we need to know now.
The
fresh truths Dr. Livingston explores include: Paradox governs our
lives. Forgiveness is a gift we give ourselves. We are defined by what
we fear. As we grow old, the beauty steals inward.
Once again,
here are Dr. Livingston’s sterling qualities: a deep understanding of
the emotional tumult that courses through our lives — our hidden
hypocrisies, desires, and evasions; an unerring sense of what is
important; and his own ability to persevere — to hope — in a world he
knows to be capable of inflicting unjustifiable and lifelong suffering.
These
qualities — plus his perfectly pitched sense of humor and a singular
voice — add up to another extraordinary book — one which, like its
predecessor, offers us a gentle, generous, and unusual alternative to
the trial-and-error learning that makes wisdom such an expensive
commodity.
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
A physician and psychiatrist, Livingston follows up on his Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart: Thirty True Things You Need to Know Now
with this compendium of useful humanistic advice for getting through
life with grace and a sense of joy. In "Marriage Ruins a Lot of Good
Relationships," the author notes that a relationship is in trouble when
it depends on scorekeeping: how much am I giving, how much am I
getting? Livingston advocates instead choosing a partner to love as
much as we love ourselves, one who is kind and has a willingness to
extend him or herself. Livingston also believes too many psychiatrists
are prescribing medication rather than helping their patients "take
responsibility for [their] lives and cope with the inevitable mood
changes that are a part of living." Extrapolating from his ideas about
the good life to broader issues, Livingston argues that our need for
"insatiable consumption" is directly related to our abuse of the
environment and our need to wage war. In "You Can Change Who You Are
Without Rejecting Who You Were," Livingston, a West Point graduate,
discusses his love for the Point and his growing opposition to the war
in Vietnam, where he served as an army doctor. His public protests
against interrogation techniques ended his military career. This
slender volume is full of wisdom and written with a generous spirit
that will appeal even to those who don't usually read self-help books. (Apr.)
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"So much wisdom, so many quotable aphorisms in such a compact book. Read it!"
—RABBI HAROLD KUSHNER, author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People "Secrets
for joyful living spill forth. We learn that the most precious gift is
learning to forgive ourselves, especially when we indulge in the
illusion that we can control everything."
—MEHMET OZ, M.D., professor
and vice chairman of surgery, New York Presbyterian/Columbia Medical
Center, coauthor of You: The Owner’s Manual
"Dr.
Livingston strikingly renews our understanding of major issues of
personal life––aging, relationships, self-worth, responsibility, and
the problem of meaning. He writes from long experience as a doctor,
counselor, and teacher, but most profoundly from the standpoint of a
human being who has faced life’s ups and downs himself, with suffering,
courage, and humor."
––ROBERT GRUDIN, author of Time and the Art of Living
About the Author
GORDON LIVINGSTON, M.D., a graduate of West Point and the Johns Hopkins
School of Medicine, has been a physician since 1967. He is a
psychiatrist and writer who contributes frequently to the Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Baltimore Sun, and Reader’s Digest. Awarded the Bronze Star for valor for his service in the Vietnam War, he is the author of Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart and Only Spring: On Mourning the Death of My Son. He lives and works in Columbia, Maryland.
Product Details
Hardcover: 177 pages
Carton Size: 48 books
Publisher: Marlowe & Company (March 1, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 156243204
ISBN-13: 978-1569243204
Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 0.58 pounds |
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