Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Aug 2010
256 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
Noam Shpancer's stunning debut novel opens as a psychologist reluctantly takes on a new client—an exotic dancer whose severe anxiety is keeping her from the stage. The psychologist, a solitary professional who also teaches a lively night class, helps the client confront her fears. But as treatment unfolds, her struggles and secrets begin to radiate onto his life, upsetting the precarious balance in his unresolved relationship with Nina, a married former colleague with whom he has a child—a child he has never met. As the shell of his detachment begins to crack, he suddenly finds himself too deeply involved, the boundary lines between professional and personal, between help and harm, blurring dangerously.
With its wonderfully distinctive narrative voice, rich with humor and humanity, The Good Psychologist leads the reader on a journey into the heart of the therapy process and beyond, examining some of the fundamental questions of the soul: to move or be still; to defy or obey; to let go or hold on.
"The overall sense of intense interiority is at odds with the too clinical distance the narrator maintains from the reader, but the insights into matters of interrogation and perception are sublime, as is the fluid interplay between the narrator's personal and professional lives." - Publishers Weekly
"Starred Review. ...Shpancer strikes a beautiful balance between the analytical and the personal, the tormented subjectivity of the patient and the arduous objectivity of the psychologist." - Kirkus
"Recommended for those with an interest in the study or practice of clinical psychology." - Library Journal
"Noam Shpancer portrays the oft-hidden world of psychotherapy with unparalleled authenticity, compassion, and wit. More important, his literary gifts are profound. Beautiful language, an evocative sense of place, and an acute understanding of the human condition have combined to produce a deeply moving, compelling novel. The Good Psychologist is an astonishing debut." - Jonathan Kellerman
"The Good Psychologist is that rare surprise—a new book by an author I've never heard of that is exactly what I’ve been waiting to read. Noam Shpancer gets it all right in this breathtaking novel. The narrative is compelling. The voice is not only fresh, but it’s also haunting, disarming, and wry. The always-treacherous literary journey into the heart of psychotherapy—and into the damaged soul of a therapist—is portrayed with the humility and wisdom of a practiced clinician, and shaped with evocative power and tantalizing patience by a writer who should not yet be this skilled. Don’t miss it." - Stephen White, author of The Siege and Dry Ice
This information about The Good Psychologist was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Noam Shpancer was born and raised on an Israeli kibbutz. He received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Purdue University. Currently, he is professor of psychology at Otterbein College and a licensed practicing clinical psychologist. He lives in Columbus, Ohio.
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