FICTION IS THE ULTIMATE TRUTH, by Art Smukler, author & psychiatrist

Fiction is the ultimate truth.

Characters that can show us who we really are, and help us get through the dark and lonely times, are truly our friends.

A great writer does more than just tell a story. He creates characters that make the reader care. Holden Caulfield, Jack Reacher, Rabbit Angstrom… We stay up late worrying about them, thinking about their dilemmas, comparing what we would do in similar circumstances.

In Chasing Backwards and Skin Dance, you will meet two of my favorite characters in the world, Joe Belmont, a 1st year medical student, and Jake Robb MD, a psychiatrist. Well, I did give birth to both of them. You didn’t know that all writers have a uterus?

Nevertheless, like all of us, both my sons have their flaws. But, they have one common characteristic that I’ve always admired, they never give up. Whatever the odds — killers, psychosis, lost loves — they do what they have to do, to survive, and do the right thing.

In The Man with a Microphone in his Ear, you will meet me, Art Smukler, as a 1st year psychiatric resident, struggling to understand how to treat a dangerous psychotic patient and what it’s really like to become a psychiatrist.

Dr. Smukler has won the prestigious Golden Ear Award for excellence in teaching at Harbor-UCLA Medical center and excellence in writing fiction at The Santa Barbara Writers Conference.

If you enjoyed reading, Inside the Mind of a Psychiatrist, you might also enjoy Dr. Smukler’s novels, Chasing Backwards, a psychological murder mystery, Skin Dance, a mystery, and The Man with a Microphone in his Ear. All are available as paperbacks and eBooks.