Pierre A. Lehu

I won this book from Goodreads. I like to read books about interesting people and Dr. Ruth is a little power house. Everyone knows Dr. Ruth as the sex therapist, but she is truly much more than that. This book focuses on her life. Dr. Ruth was born on June 4, 1928 as Karola Ruth Siegel. She was taken to a German- Jewish safe camp with around 100 other children after her father was taken from the family home by Nazis.

Dr. Ruth was trained as a scout and a sniper by the Hagenah (the Jewish paramilitary) once she immigrated to Palestine at age 17. Her training came about because of her size, as it made it easier for her to be undetected. After a while she was injured and as a result was allowed to leave the military.

Dr. Ruth hungered for a better life and for the education that was originally denied to her. Once Dr. Ruth was allowed to seek higher learning she made it her mission. Even though Dr. Ruth has written books, been on radio and TV, teaching is her first love. She has taught at several universities.

Dr. Ruth has two children and has been married three times. Throughout Dr. Ruth’s life her main motto has been to seize the “ Joie de Vivre”; which translates to “joy of life”. She believes this is true of no matter what situation life throws at you, find the good it in. From this book it was very easy to be in awe of her spunk and positive attitude in general. I am not referring to sex here. I am referring to Dr. Ruth as a person. There are so many more interesting facts and stories that she shares about her life in this book and I say it is definitely worth checking out as you will be inspired.
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I remember Dr. Ruth talking candidly about sex on radio and television back in the 80's. Accent aside, her's was a unique voice because of her focus on educating without shocking or titillating her audience. She brings this same frankness to her second autobiography and fills its pages with upbeat advice based on her astonishingly varied (some tragically) life experiences. Overall, a very positive view of an eventful life that's still going strong at 86.

I received this book for free through the goodreads First Reads program.… (más)

I grew up in New York listening to Dr. Ruth on the radio. She was so warm and inviting and gave such sound advice. I have always admired her courage, her zest for life and her strong presence. I was surprised therefore by her book The Doctor Is In in which she gives advice on how to live life with Joie de Vivre and get the most pleasure and joy that we can. In this book, Dr Ruth seems different; her voice is shallow, distant and repetitive. Basically the book is a guide on how to handle the vicissitude of life: the hurt, the grief, the losses that come our way. She encourages us to feel all of our feelings associated with our pain and then get moving and find the Joie de Vivre that we are missing. She gives us examples from her own life. What is surprising is how simplistic and formulaic her advice is, how she repeats it over and over and how the more she says it the more removed it feels. Given that Dr Ruth encourages us to feel a full range of feeling it is disappointing that she mostly only expresses "happy" and "nice" feelings and doesn't give many clues on how to express the full range of emotions we might be feeling and use this to lighten our burdens and better ourselves. She also doesn't seem aware that people have so many different ways of coping and that being active and busy might work for her but not for others. Overall, a miss for me though I always look forward to hearing from Dr Ruth at different stages of her, and my own, life. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to review this book for an honest opinion… (más)