Among the fresh truths Dr. Livingston identifies and explores are: Paradox governs our lives. Forgiveness is a gift we give ourselves. Marriage ruins a lot of good relationships. We are defined by what we fear. We all live downstream. One of life's most difficult tasks is to see ourselves as others see us. As we grow old, the beauty steals inward. Most people die with their music still inside of them.

Once again, here are Dr. Livingston's sterling qualities: a deep understanding of the emotional tumult that courses through our lives, our hidden hypocrisies, desires, and evasions; an unerring sense of what is important (he does not waste a single moment writing about unimportant things); and his own ability to persevere, to hope, in a world he knows to be capable of inflicting unjustifiable and lifelong suffering.

These qualities, plus his perfectly pitched sense of humor and a voice that has been described as "more Job than Dr. Phil" (The Washington Post), add up to another extraordinary book, one which, like its predecessor, offers us a gentle, generous, and unusual alternative to the trial-and-error learning that makes wisdom such an expensive commodity.