(Past Program) Read Between the Ravines 2024

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"A wild ride ... It gets pretty raw."

–The Boston Globe

"Tate's debut memoir invites readers to sit alongside the author in one of the chairs circled for group therapy, and watch her struggle, fail, and very slowly learn. This memoir's accomplishment is impressively dualistic: it's a compelling narrative that empowers readers to better understand their own lives." –Booklist

"Tate delivers a no-holds-barred account of her five-plus years in group therapy in this dazzling debut memoir. Readers will be irresistibly drawn into Tate's earnest and witty search for authentic and lasting love." –Publisher's Weekly

"Tate's writing positions the reader as her witness, watching and cheering as she works her way to psychological health. Group is consistently determined and grateful, with an appealing strand of self-deprecation and a deep affection for [Tate's groupmates]." –NPR

 

About the Book

Christie Tate had just been named the top student in her law school class and finally had her eating disorder under control. Why then was she driving through Chicago fantasizing about her own death? Why was she envisioning putting an end to the isolation and sadness that still plagued her despite her achievements?

Enter Dr. Rosen, a therapist who calmly assures her that if she joins one of his psychotherapy groups, he can transform her life. All she has to do is show up and be honest. About everything—her eating habits, childhood, sexual history, etc. Christie is skeptical, insisting that she is defective, beyond cure. But Dr. Rosen issues a nine-word prescription that will change everything: "You don’t need a cure. You need a witness."

So begins her entry into the strange, terrifying, and ultimately life-changing world of group therapy. Christie is initially put off by Dr. Rosen's outlandish directives, but as her defenses break down and she comes to trust Dr. Rosen and to depend on the sessions and the prescribed nightly phone calls with various group members, she begins to understand what it means to connect.

With Christie as our guide—skeptical of her own capacity for connection and intimacy, but hopeful in spite of herself—we are given a front row seat to the daring, exhilarating, painful, and hilarious journey that is group therapy—an under-explored process that breaks you down, and then reassembles you so that all the pieces finally fit.

Go to the Lake Forest Library catalog to borrow "Group" by Christie Tate

Go to the Lake Bluff Public Library catalog to borrow "Group" by Christie Tate

 

About the Author

Christie O. Tate is a Chicago-based writer and essayist. She grew up in Texas and attended law school in Chicago. Her work has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, Pithead Chapel, McSweeney’s, Eastern Iowa Review, Motherwell, Entropy Magazine, and elsewhere. Her debut memoir, Group: How One Therapist and a Circle of Strangers Saved My Life, was published in October 2020 and was a Reese’s Book Club Pick and New York Times bestseller. Her second book, B.F.F.: A Memoir of Friendship Lost and Found, was published in February 2023. Find out more at christietate.com

Events & Discussion

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Thank you for attending these 2024 events with us

  • Group: How One Therapist and a Circle of Strangers Saved My Life book discussions around the community
  • Explore Music Therapy
  • Paws for Patrick Therapy Dog Visit
  • Destress & Declutter: 7 Ways to Simplify Your Life
  • Lake Bluff Art Impact Project: Blackout Poetry for Teens & Tweens
  • An Evening with Christie Tate
  • Memoir Writing Workshop with Christie Tate

Reese Witherspoon and Christie Tate in Conversation

Dating Advice from Group Therapy

Websites

Looking for help with a crisis? Access your Library's
Tough Topics Resouces

988 Suicide & Crisis Hotline
https://988lifeline.org/

Podcast

Listen to the
Chicago Writers Podcast Interview

Article

Chicago Tribune
On Memoirs and Privacy

Thank You to Our Partners

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