Life Is a 4-Letter Word - Laughing and Learning Through 40 Life Lessons

Dr. David Levy brings his insights and expertise as a veteran psychologist, baby boomer, and actor on Cheers, Frasier, and One Day at a Time to Life Is a 4-Letter Word and shares a lifetime journey of personal reflections, growth, and wisdom with the reader within the 40 autobiographical essays that make up the book. In the same way that Richard Carlson's Don't Sweat the Small Stuff inspired a generation, so will Dr. David Levy's uplifting stories and wise advice.

List of contents

Prologue—The Shot
Introduction
The Challenge
The Nature of Attachment
The Empty Threat
Bridging the Racial Divide
“…And Nothing but the Truth”
Worse and Worser
The Zen Stripper
Testing the Limits
A Short Story
The Ticking Clock
The Stoned Wall
The Marvels of Cynicism
Kiss Quest
Passing the Ultimate Buck
The Impostor Syndrome
15-Zip
Hedonic Greed
The Shell Game
Empathic Failure
Tincture of Time
It’s Just a Four-Letter Word
Uncool Effort
The Booby Prize
Obviously
Inverted Self-Esteem
When Intuition Goes Awry
The Prozac Dilemma
Pseudo-Worries
“He Just Doesn’t Understand”
Lying or Crazy?
“We Hold These Truths…”
Biofeedback
Journey B. Goode
To Love, Honor, and Betray
Zorro Goes Home
Perfectly Flawed
The Third Act
Final Request
The Shot—Redux
Appendix “The Lessons”

About the author

Dr. David A. Levy has extensive experience as a professor, therapist, author, actor, researcher, and media consultant.

Levy is a Professor of Psychology at Pepperdine University, where he has been teaching graduate psychology courses since 1986. Dr. Levy holds professional licenses both in psychology and in marriage and family therapy and has worked in a wide range of private practice and inpatient settings.
Levy’s book, Tools of Critical Thinking, (acclaimed as “the thinking person’s self-help book”), garnered widespread acclaim for its innovative approaches to improving thinking skills. 

As a media consultant, Levy has appeared on over 70 television and radio broadcasts (including CNN, CBS, NBC, PBS, NPR, Fox, NatGeo, A&E, and E!), providing psychological perspectives on current events, and examining issues and trends in the mental health fields.

He has also worked as a professional director, producer, writer, and actor in motion pictures, television, and stage. He received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Performance in a Network Television Series, and he was a guest star on the television series Cheers, where he portrayed the leader of Frasier's low self-esteem group (a role which he adamantly maintains is not “type-casting”).
Kristine Carlson is a New York Times bestselling author, speaker, and leader in the field of transformation. After collaborating with her late husband Dr. Richard Carlson to create a publishing industry phenomenon with the Don't Sweat the Small Stuff series—selling more than 25 million copies worldwide—today, Kris is emerging as a profound teacher in the areas that matter most to the human heart: how to heal and how to love. 

Kris has captivated readers around the world with her previous six books, which includes Don't Sweat the Small Stuff in Love; Don't Sweat the Small Stuff for Women; Don't Sweat the Small Stuff for Moms; An Hour to Live, An Hour to Love: The True Story of the Best Gift Ever; and Heartbroken-Open: A Memoir Through Loss to Self Discovery. 

As a sought-after speaker, Kris is known for her authenticity, vulnerability, and humor, leaving her audiences moved, inspired, and optimistic about the future. She has been featured on national radio and television, including The Today Show, Good Morning America, The View, and The Oprah Winfrey Show. She is mom to two daughters and "Nana" to four grandchildren. She lives in California.

Summary

Laugh and Learn with These Life Lessons

Insights from a veteran psychologist: Dr. David Levy is a media consultant who has appeared on over 70 television and radio broadcasts, from CNN to National Geographic, to provide psychological perspectives on current events. His previous works have been published internationally, many of them becoming bestsellers. In this book, Levy approaches readers on a more personal level but carries the same expertise that he’s shared with viewers and listeners worldwide.
Valuable life lessons: Levy’s book takes a different approach than others in the self-help genre. Rather than being instructional, Levy shares bits of wisdom through telling his own stories. In other words, he offers life lessons without lecturing or preaching. Written in a style that is engaging and humorous, readers will find relatable truths in Levy’s uplifting stories and wise advice.
A journey to wisdom: The path to living a smarter lifestyle is not always smooth. Levy encourages readers to embrace all the feelings his book may bring out as they read his stories, from laughing to wincing, and learning along the way. Discover the power of positive thinking as Levy shares a lifetime journey of personal reflections, growth, and wisdom.
Dive into Dr. David Levy’s latest book, Life Is a 4-Letter Word, and find…

• 40 autobiographical essays, each one containing a relatable and applicable life lesson
• A unique source of both humor and inspiration that reassures readers that life is good
• A self-help book for men and women from a published professional in psychology

If books such as You are a Badass, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F—, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff, and Sometimes You Win—Sometimes You Learn have interested you, then Life Is a 4-Letter Word should be your next read!

Foreword

As a media consultant, Levy has appeared on over 70 television and radio broadcasts (including CNN, CBS, NBC, PBS, NPR, Fox, NatGeo, A&E, and E!), providing psychological perspectives on current events, and examining issues and trends in the mental health fields.
He has also worked as a professional director, producer, writer, and actor in motion pictures, television, and stage. He received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Performance in a Network Television Series, and he was a guest star on the television series Cheers, One Day at a Time, and Frasier, where he portrayed the leader of Frasier's low self-esteem group (a role which he adamantly maintains is not “type-casting”).
Levy’s book, Tools of Critical Thinking, (acclaimed as “the thinking person’s self-help book”), garnered widespread acclaim for its innovative approaches to improving thinking skills. Levy co-authored (with Eric Shiraev) Cross-Cultural Psychology: Critical Thinking and Contemporary Applications (currently in its 6^th edition), which has become an international best-selling textbook and has been translated into four foreign languages. Levy is the author of Family Therapy: History, Theory, and Practice, which was the first textbook on the topic available to Russian readers. His numerous theoretical and empirical research studies have been published in scientific journals and presented at professional conferences.

The author has a five-person publicity and promotions team booking him on national and regional radio, TV, and print media. He will be appearing in indie bookstores across California.

Additional text

"There are many fun essays and “lessons” that all of us can relate to. I would highly recommend this enjoyable thought-provoking book for those readers who enjoy self-help books with humor." - Linda's Book Obsession

"There is no better way to change your thinking until you read a book where someone else shows you all their own personal flaws and then points out after the fact what the “bright side” was. This was magnificent. Such a treasure... Probably the best written ‘self-help’ and ‘advice’ book I have ever read." - Reading Girl Reviews

Product details

• Authors: David A. Levy
• Assisted by: Kristine Carlson (Foreword)
• Publisher: Ingram Publishers Services
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 03.12.2019
• EAN: 9781642501544
• ISBN: 978-1-64250-154-4
• Dimensions: 127 mm x 178 mm x 15 mm
• Weight: 181 g
• Subjects: Guides > Self-help, everyday life > Lifestyle, personal development; Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Medicine > General; SELF-HELP / Personal Growth / Success, SELF-HELP / Aging, PHILOSOPHY / Essays, HUMOR / Form / Essays, HUMOR / Form / Anecdotes & Quotations, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Medical (incl. Patients)