Part I. Youth. The thumbs must go ; An accident ; Crime and punishment ; The persistence and fragility of memory ; Know your brain ; Know your body ; Be yourself ; The weight of history ; Mrs. Brown's "Rular" ; All the lonely people ; Lena and Lucas ; Lessons from a fly ; The fixer ; The long reach of sexual trauma ; Trouble with my father ; Mysteries of mood ; Medical school ; A brush with the South African police ; A brutal attack ; Born again ; Boot camp and the kindness of strangers ; Homeland ; Namibia ; Leaving home
Part II. Adulthood. New York City ; Hostile takeover ; Supervising a supervisor ; What are the questions? ; Leaving the NIMH ; Losing and choosing ; Pride and prejudice and sociopaths ; Lessons from a scam ; A ghost from the past ; Don't hold on to grudges ; Hold on to dreams ; Taking responsibility ; Reciprocity in relationships ; Learning something from everyone ; Telling a story ; The gift of meditation ; By force of habit ; The quest for excellence
Part III. Heroes. Death in the desert ; High-stakes negotiations at midnight ; A cousin in trouble ; Meeting with Viktor Frankl
Part IV. Farewells. A patriarch takes his leave ; Dad's last day ; The death of Galadriel ; Appointment in Samarra ; Life after death ; It's never too late to say "I love you."