Dear Patrick: Life is Tough - Here's Some Good Advice

by Jeffrey M. Schwartz, Annie Gottlieb

Dear Patrick, For five years I have been witness to your struggles to grow up without a father. As a family friend, I can't make that up to you. What I can do is stand by you, and teach you how to be the kind of man you wish your father had been ... So begins the correspondence of two unlikely friends, Patrick Buckley, a sixteen-year-old New York City high schooler, and Jeffrey M. Schwartz, internationally renowned neuroscientist and the critically acclaimed author of Brain Lock and The Mind and the Brain . Inspired by Patrick's straight forward questions, Schwartz examines the moral teachings of our greatest spiritual leaders -- Jesus, Buddha, and Moses -- and filters them through the lens of his cutting-edge psychiatric research, as well as his own experiences of childhood loneliness and loss. With fierce certainty and love, Schwartz provides Patrick with a blueprint for breaking free from the culture of corrosive cynicism that threatens to destroy him, and for constructing a decent, meaningful, and fulfilling life. The result is a fascinating and revolutionary new code for living born of a man and a boy who sought honor and self-command in a culture of self-indulgence.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published November 25, 2003

About the author

Jeffrey M. Schwartz is an American psychiatrist and researcher in the field of neuroplasticity and its application to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). He is a proponent of mind–body dualism and appeared in the 2008 film Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.

Reviews

[Ian · Rating 1 out of 5]

stopped the book because it was annoyingly bad.

[Hillarystephenson · Rating 3 out of 5]

the first sections of this book are largely general pieces of advice about life from a surrogate-type father to son; i could have done without them. but now that mr. schwartz is addressing neuroplasticity and the ability to change one's brain through meditative practices, i am very engaged and am enjoying the book much more. lovely to read the thoughts of these two bright and ethical men!