Group: Six People in Search of a Life

by Paul Solotaroff

Written by a former editor at "The Village Voice, " this riveting, compulsively readable account tells of six patients engaged in group therapy and their efforts to transform their lives.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Counselling

339 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 2, 1999

About the author

Paul Solotaroff is a contributing editor at Men's Journal and Rolling Stone. He has written features for Vanity Fair, GQ, Vogue, and the New York Times Magazine, and he was nominated for a National Magazine Award in 2004. His work has been included in Best American Sports Writing. The author of two books, Group and The House of Purple Hearts, he lives in New York City.

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Reviews

[Burt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thrift store had this book. I’d heard that author Paul Solotaroff was one of the “literary journalists” and had always wanted to give one of his books a try. After reading The Group, I’m glad that I did so.

The book concerns six New Yorkers (four men, two women) who were going through group therapy in 1995. Each of them has major issues. (The issues run the gamut - drugs, divorce, affairs, money, unresolved conflicts with parents, etc.). The six agreed to meet with their charismatic therapist and their fellow group members for 12 months.

Solotaroff draws a nice portrait of each of the six members. By the end, the reader cares about each person and cheers for him or her to succeed. The only aspect of the book that I disliked was that Solotaroff used pseudonyms for each person and changed some of the details of their stories to preserve their anonymity.

The Group is engaging nonfiction and well worth a look.

[Sunny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story that loses itself, and refuses to come back.

The book had an interesting plot, and had several moments that truly captured the atmosphere and the group dynamics. But the characters got me confusing, not their names but their backgrounds. I had to constantly go back and re-read passages to reestablish their persona.

Overall a decent book. The pace of the book keeps fluctuating. Sometimes it felt like a drag. Not an easy read, probably a moderate one.

[Lindsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wavered between two and three stars for a while. While it was a quick and compelling read, allowing me to finish it quickly, there’s not much else to recommended. A time-capsule of semi outdated therapeutic practices (the bulk of the book was written in 1995), the characters are mostly unlikeable. Add to that language that smacks of privilege and some pretty sexist and racist moments throughout, this is probably one to skip

[Alic · Rating 4 out of 5]

I usually do not enjoy books written with psychotherapy as an explicit subject, but I found this book to be fascinating. I especially appreciated the occasional focus on the psychiatrist, whose unconventional techniques seemed powerful & effective, despite his own problems.

[Rebecca Iden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fantastic. A look into our complex minds. It shows that our every day choices are always 'choices' and to make better choices, we need to rewire our brain. Our daily choices are mostly compelled by our subconscious, our childhood and our past experiences.

[Cristina · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book starts off strong but I quickly lost interest halfway through.

[Bernadette Frenz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book, back in the day when I was running 4 groups as a therapist.

[Laura Hancock · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the introduction, the author warns the reader to only expect entertainment from the book, not self-help. Of course, I didn't heed his advice and I immediately identified with one character, who never really worked through her problems. By the end of the book, I was disappointed and resentful at the characters who had made successful transformations as a result of group therapy.
The book is about six flesh-and-blood people in New York City who meet over the course of a year in group therapy and their progress (or lack thereof, in the case of the character I identified with.)
The people were unusually successful -- at the top of the games in their respective professions and social circles. Different disasters plopped them on the shrink's couch: divorce, substance abuse, perpetual singlehood, financial problems, crappy self-esteem.
The therapist was impressive. The wisdom he imparted during group was brilliant and the way he communicated was also brilliant -- so much so that the patients began analyzing each other using tools they learned from him.
The ending is unsatisfactory, in my opinion. Not just because my fave character didn't have any type of breakthrough or life improvement, but a few others didn't, either. Or didn't have enough of a breakthrough. It's a book, for crying out loud! It should have had a better narrative arc -- even if it's nonfiction.
The only reason I gave it four stars -- and part of me thinks it deserves there -- is because of the wisdom of the therapist. He is so good that part of me wants to reread the book just to focus on his knowledge. Then again, it would be violating the author's advice to not use the book as a substitute therapist.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though this isn't a self-help book, I did take away a tidbit of help. In the book, the psychiatrist running the group sessions talks about an idea called "serious fun". In essence, it's the idea that what you do in life, either as your career or as a hobby, you should consider "serious fun". You may not make any money off of it, but you should feel fulfilled by doing it. For the people in this group who weren't sure what "serious fun" entailed, he suggested looking towards your childhood for clues. If you enjoyed something in childhood more than most other things, that something you enjoyed should be something you should do in adulthood as well, or a modified version.

For instance, as a child, I loved the outdoors, reading, riding my bike, and paint by numbers. It turns out, the things that I find hugely enjoyable today are the solo backcountry camping, reading, riding my bike, and needlepoint.

Though the narrative is somewhat dated, since it was written back in 1999, this is still worth reading. The author of the book also writes for Esquire and GQ, so if you're not a fan of flowery descriptions and overlong narratives written in the Esquire/GQ style, this might not be the book for you.

[Alkatraz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Group: Six People in Search of Life 4 Stars

I happened on this gem in a used bookshop and thought, 'why not?' The author was given a special access to follow the group sessions of one particular handful of people in New York. They are taught how to use talk therapy and supervised sessions to self treat. Honestly, I read this as a way to get ahead of the curve if my therapist ever wants to go the group therapy route.

I was a bit miffed to be honest. That and pleased that my therapist isn't a jerk like the one in these people had to deal with. He has a bad habit of stopping people mid-thought to derail and go on to whatever he was thinking. As a whole, the group just rolls with it.

I found it interesting to see these people change and grow over the course of a year. Some made changes for the better, others... not so much. In the end it was an interesting book, but difficult to recommend to others.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was extremely good. It really took you into these people's lives. I felt like I was sitting there with them in group discussing their problems. I wanted to know how things would turn out with each of the characters and really hoped for the best for all of them. It makes you think of any problems you may have in your life and how to deal with them if they are unresolved. I really enjoyed reading this book.

[Scottk · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book when I was relatively green to the principles of group process. It provided a nice introduction. This was the take away for me: when a safe climate is established the self-disclosure of one will inspire the group to match his/her courage.

[Kate D]

Isaac's brother... I hear it's good .

[Julia]

Even a good read for people who aren't that interested in group therapy dynamics...a good story.

[Colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Compelling, well-written, helpful.

[Carole · Rating 3 out of 5]

At times dated, it was, as my sister said, a bit like being a fly on the wall.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the November book club book selected by Ann Croft

[Ed · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love books about therapy and this one is almost as good as the fifty-minute hour!

[Billy · Rating 2 out of 5]

not what i was expecting. way too self-helpy. i thought it was going to be about Solotaroff's experiences in therapy. pretty disappointed with this one/

[Anne Kadet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun like good reality tv fun