Publications
Books
What if the emotions we fight hardest against—anger, shame, envy, regret, jealousy, annoyance, despair—are not enemies to be vanquished but essential guides to self-knowledge?
With unflinching honesty about his own emotional turbulence and the insights gained from his work as a psychotherapist, Smith makes a compelling case that our negative emotions serve crucial purposes—if only we would listen to what they’re trying to tell us. Whether examining the striking absence of anger among the Inuit or confronting his own emotional inheritance as a new father, Smith offers a perspective that is both deeply humane and surprisingly hopeful.
This book is not so much a guide to banishing difficult feelings, but rather an invitation to wholeness—to feeling everything—and discovering that even our darkest emotions contain intelligence, meaning, and the potential for profound transformation.
Praise for Hard Feelings
"A beautiful and funny meditation on self-awareness and self-acceptance. Smith’s precise, elegant writing gives hope that seeing oneself clearly is an attainable goal."—Rachel Aviv, New York Times bestselling author of Strangers to Ourselves
"The permission slip you didn't know you needed. Smith explores annoyance, shame, envy, and despair with such honesty and insight that you'll stop fighting your difficult emotions and start listening to them. A book that transforms self-judgment into self-knowledge."—Robert J. Waldinger, MD, Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and New York Times bestselling author of The Good Life
"Even though I've been a Daniel Smith fan since Monkey Mind, I didn't expect to fly through this insightful and compact treatise in one exhilarating evening. As a fellow member of the 'club of the overwrought,' I learned so much about the cultural history of feelings—and the danger of moralizing our so-called 'bad' emotions. It's time to drop the hand-wringing about our mistempers—and let in some shadow with the light."—Susannah Cahalan, New York Times bestselling author of Brain on Fire
A wildly acclaimed New York Times bestseller, this uplifting, smart, and funny memoir provides hope and understanding to the 40 million Americans who suffer from anxiety disorders.
Daniel Smith’s Monkey Mind is the stunning articulation of what it is like to live with anxiety. As he travels through anxiety’s demonic layers, Smith defangs the disorder with great humor and evocatively expresses its self-destructive absurdities and painful internal coherence. Here, finally, comes relief and recognition to all those who want someone to put what they feel, or what their loved ones feel, into words.
Praise for Monkey Mind
“Monkey Mind does for anxiety what William Styron’s Darkness Visible did for depression.” —Aaron Beck, father of cognitive therapy
“I read Monkey Mind with admiration for its bravery and clarity. . . . I broke out into explosive laughter again and again.” —Oliver Sacks
“[A] hilarious and honest account of living with anxiety.” —Entertainment Weekly
“Monkey Mind is a perfect 10…. Smith conveys the seriousness of his own situation without becoming pathetic or unrelatable, and what’s more, he offers useful information for both sufferers and nonsufferers alike.” —Newsday
Coming Soon.
An inquiry into hearing voices—one of humanity's most profound phenomena.
Auditory hallucination is one of the most awe-inspiring, terrifying, and ill-understood tricks of which the human psyche is capable. In the age of modern medical science, we have relegated this experience to nothing more than a biological glitch. Yet as Daniel Smith puts forth in Muses, Madmen, and Prophets, some of the greatest thinkers, leaders, and prophets in history heard, listened to, and had dialogues with voices inside their heads. In a fascinating quest for understanding, Smith examines the history of this powerful phenomenon, and delivers a ringing defense of the validity of unusual human experiences.
Praise for Muses, Madmen, and Prophets
"Articulate, engaging, and deeply researched." —Jerome Groopman, The Boston Globe
"Fascinating." —Peter D. Kramer, The New York Times Book Review
"An eloquent writer." —San Francisco Chronicle