An Epic Life II
Personal Perspectives
by Jeffrey Zeig
An Epic Life Vol. II is the second biography on Milton H. Erickson written by Jeffrey Zeig. The first volume features professional perspectives on Erickson and this book offers a personal lens, as seen through Erickson’s family, friends, neighbors, students, secretaries, and patients. The reader gains access into the dynamic personal world of Milton Erickson, who was a one-of-a-kind communicator of unparalleled brilliance.
Erickson was known to work with patients to elicit in them the innate ability to “connect the dots” to discover their adaptive potentials. Readers will delight in also being able to connect the dots, piecing together the professional aspects of Erickson in the first volume with the personal ones in this volume. For Erickson, the line between his professional life and personal life was blurred. He was doctor, teacher, friend, and neighbor all at the same time. Readers will see how his therapy methods carried over into his personal life. Or was it perhaps the other way around?
An Epic Life II draws upon decades of interviews with those who knew Erickson on a more personal level. The incisive perspectives are interlaced with commentary from Zeig to clarify and contextualize. The images of Erickson that emerge are congruent, divergent, and myriad. In the end, readers will have a more complete picture of the man, his commitment, and his work. There is nothing simple in what is conveyed, and yet the impression it makes is coherent – and lasting.
Zeig prepares us for this stimulating journey by providing a comprehensive history of Erickson’s lineage, and background on the many contexts mentioned in the book.
Erickson was one of the greatest psychotherapists of the 20th century and the father of modern hypnosis and brief therapy. His professional contributions continue to influence the field and its practitioners and his personal life is inspirational.
As we strive to evolve personally and professionally, we should do as Erickson did: Leave the world a better place.
