The Drama of the Gifted Child - 3rd Edition

About the Book

Now revised and updated to reflect the author's new insights, this modern classic explains why many of the most successful children and adults are plagued by feelings of emptiness and alienation--and tells how to break the cycle.

Book Synopsis

This "rare and compelling" (New York Magazine) bestseller examines childhood trauma and the enduring effects it has on an individual's management of repressed anger and pain.

Why are many of the most successful people plagued by feelings of emptiness and alienation? This wise and profound book has provided millions of readers with an answer--and has helped them to apply it to their own lives.

Far too many of us had to learn as children to hide our own feelings, needs, and memories skillfully in order to meet our parents' expectations and win their "love." Alice Miller writes, "When I used the word 'gifted' in the title, I had in mind neither children who receive high grades in school nor children talented in a special way. I simply meant all of us who have survived an abusive childhood thanks to an ability to adapt even to unspeakable cruelty by becoming numb.... Without this 'gift' offered us by nature, we would not have survived." But merely surviving is not enough. The Drama of the Gifted Child helps us to reclaim our life by discovering our own crucial needs and our own truth.

Review Quotes

"An unpretentious little book with an amazing impact...Many readers find themselves portrayed with an accuracy and empathy that seem uncanny, as if the author had been a silent, unseen witness to their childhood [and] their innermost and secret selves."--Vogue

"Full of wisdom and perception."--The New Republic

"Rare and compelling in its compassion and its unassuming eloquence...her examples are so vivid and so ordinary they touch the hurt child in us all."--The New York Magazine

"Narcissism has rarely been written about with the clarity and quiet insights of this modest, thought-provoking work."--Washington Post Book World

About the Author

Alice Miller (1923-2010) achieved worldwide recognition for her work on the causes and effects of childhood traumas. She was also the author of many books, including The Truth Will Set You Free, Banished Knowledge, Breaking Down the Wall of Silence, Thou Shalt Not Be Aware, and For Your Own Good.