The Doctor Is In: Dr. Ruth on Love, Life, and Joie de Vivre

by Ruth K. Westheimer, Pierre A. Lehu (With)

Overview

The Doctor Is In! America’s best-loved therapist, Dr. Ruth, is known for her wise counsel on all matters of the heart. Here she shares private stories from her past and her present, and her insights into living life to the fullest, at any age.

Everyone knows Dr. Ruth as the most famous and trusted sex therapist, but few people know she narrowly escaped death from the Holocaust, was raised in an orphanage in Switzerland, or that she was a sniper during Israel's War of Independence. After years spent as a student in Paris, Dr. Ruth came to America dreaming of a new life though never expecting the dramatic turns that would take place. And at the age of eighty-seven, she is as spirited as ever.

Through intimate and funny stories, Dr. Ruth sheds light on how she's learned to live a life filled with joie de vivre. And she shows readers how they too can learn to deal with tragedy and loss, challenges and success, all while nourishing an intellectual and emotional spark, and, above all, having fun! Hilarious, inspiring, and profound, The Doctor Is In will change the way you think about life and love, in all their limitless possibilities.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781477828366
Publisher:	Amazon Publishing
Publication date:	06/02/2015
Pages:	206
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Dr. Ruth K. Westheimer is a psychosexual therapist who sprang to national attention in the early 1980s with her live radio program, Sexually Speaking. She went on to have her own TV program, appeared on the cover of People magazine and TV Guide, and is the author of thirty-seven books. Fans of all ages can find her at www.drruth.com, on Twitter @AskDrRuth, and at www.youtube.com/drruth. A one-woman show about her life, Dr. Ruth, All The Way, is currently touring. Dr. Ruth teaches at Columbia’s Teachers College. She lives in New York and has two children and four grandchildren.

Table of Contents

Prologue 1

Chapter I What Is Joie de Vivre? 7

Chapter II Always Move Forward 19

Chapter III Embrace Your Passions and Your Beliefs 23

Chapter IV Open Yourself Up to Love: My History in Love and Marriage 53

Chapter V Going After What You Want in Life 71

Chapter VI Enjoy the Crazy Turns Life Takes 85

Chapter VII How Celebrity Influenced My Life-and Could Influence Yours 103

Chapter VIII Always Learn New Things 123

Chapter IX Take Risks 147

Chapter X Recognize That It Is Never Too Late 161

Epilogue - Questions from the Audience 179

Acknowledgments 193

Editorial Reviews

04/06/2015
Part memoir and part life manual, the latest from renowned sex therapist Dr. Westheimer (Sexually Speaking) uses stories from her remarkable, often arduous journey to instruct readers on embracing positivity. Orphaned after the Holocaust, Westheimer ventured to British-ruled Palestine, where she trained as a sniper in the Haganah paramilitary organization and was injured in an air raid on her 20th birthday. In Paris, Westheimer enrolled at the Sorbonne before relocating to New York’s New School. She raised her daughter alone, having divorced her first husband. Her career trajectory included stints as a Planned Parenthood research assistant, a radio and television host, and an Ivy League instructor. She includes plenty of amusing anecdotes, including encounters with celebrities such as Barbra Streisand (whom Westheimer fails to recognize) and Paul McCartney, and a Jean Paul Gaultier fashion show where she is upstaged by a topless Madonna. Dispensing relationship tips, Westheimer discusses boredom, appropriate fantasies, and unrequited love, the “joie de vivre killer.” She writes that tragedy has instilled in her the importance of “feeling the full range of emotions” and living life to the fullest in honor of those who have died. While Westheimer has covered some of this ground previously, her wit and brassy style breathe new life into familiar self-help material. (June)

Publishers Weekly

An exuberant celebration of life by America’s favorite octogenarian sex guru...Her warmth, wit, and wisdom shine through this lively account of a life well-lived. A joy for her many fans, old and new.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Part memoir and part life manual, the latest from renowned sex therapist Dr. Westheimer uses stories from her remarkable, often arduous journey to instruct readers on embracing positivity...Her wit and brassy style breathe new life into familiar self-help material.” —Publishers Weekly

“Though many think they know all about Dr. Ruth due to her iconic stature, this book offers more that is truly enjoyable to read in her own familiar voice.” —Jewish Book World

From the Publisher

Articulately written and precisely voiced by Laural Merlington, this is a delight and a wonderful treat for the ears. Westheimer offers a memoir that is entertaining, touching, positive, and sensitive despite her many life challenges. Best of all, it offers frequent flashes of tasteful humor. Although the introduction is voiced by Westheimer herself, the rest of the audiobook is narrated by Merlington. Her mature, appropriately paced narration provides context by nature of its sensitivity. Few may know of Westheimer’s losing her entire family in the Holocaust and her serious injuries in a bombing at the time of modern Israel’s creation. Thankfully, Merlington doesn’t attempt to imitate the inimitable Westheimer—yet she quite skillfully weaves the words into rhythms that are unmistakably Westheimer. W.A.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

AUGUST 2015 - AudioFile

2015-03-28
An exuberant celebration of life by America's favorite octogenarian sex guru. Westheimer (Dr. Ruth's Guide for the Alzheimer's Caregiver, 2012, etc.) examines the basis for her resiliency and irrepressible joie de vivre despite the trauma of having been separated from her family at age 10 and the vicissitudes of age. As one of the last German Jewish children to escape the Holocaust, she was sent to live in a Swiss orphanage. Faced with the reality that her family had been killed and an ultimatum from the Swiss to leave the country, she went to Israel. She moved to France when the Sorbonne offered her an opportunity to pursue a higher education and then to the United States, where she earned a doctorate at Columbia University Teacher's College. She has been married three times, with two ending in divorce and the third with the untimely death of her husband. Her secret for maintaining a joyful outlook on life is not in suppressing the negative but not in dwelling on it, either. Westheimer also writes about how she was grand marshal in New York City's German-American Steuben Parade. After all, she quips, Hitler "committed suicide; meanwhile, I'm living life to the fullest." More seriously, not to have accepted the invitation would have been like saying, "all Germans are inherently evil." Although she has had phenomenal success on radio and TV, her role as Dr. Ruth came about by chance when she was in her 50s as an offshoot of successful guest appearances. The author prides herself most on her academic career. For many years, she taught graduate students at Princeton and Yale, and she currently teaches a course at Columbia Teacher's College on family and media. Her warmth, wit, and wisdom shine through this lively account of a life well-lived. A joy for her many fans, old and new.

Kirkus Reviews