THE LAST WORKSHOP

A novel explores the world of the self-help workshop.

Rae Milford is an author and expert on childhood trauma, helping her clients prevent their pasts from ruining their presents. Unfortunately, her own marriage is on the rocks. Her husband, Alan, has cancer, but why is it so hard for Rae to be emotionally supportive? David Levine is a psychotherapist who thinks constantly about aging. How long, he wonders, until he turns into one of the older men he sees in the showers at the Russell Road Racquet Club? Gil Broadbent is a former biologist and recovering alcoholic who still hits up the clubs searching for his soul mate. He’s transitioned to a new career as a workshop leader, still attempting to understand his own dysfunctions. The three friends meet up at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur to lead a five-day intensive workshop called “Life Beyond Your Limitations,” but are they really in a position to guide people to better versions of themselves? Their California workshop includes eight big personalities, bringing with them issues related to alcohol, sex, work, and childhood trauma. This year, things seem bound to come to a head, not just for the students in the workshop, but for the teachers as well. The authors’ prose is clean and smooth, capturing the small shifts of emotion and energy in the classroom: “Looking around the room, Rae observed tears in others’ eyes, including David’s and Gil’s. Rae also found the little girl’s pleas plaintive and compelling, and felt annoyed when she caught Todd looking at his watch. Rae was aware of heat rising in her cheeks.” The book reads like a credible depiction of a personal growth workshop, and its sustained focus on the issues of a small group of characters makes for an intriguing exercise in human psychology. But the novel—by Bowden and debut authors Chouteau and Balaban—is just a bit too long at 357 pages. The big events are not quite as high stakes as readers will want them to be. It’s a strong premise, but the authors’ commitment to realism ultimately robs the story of much of its potential drama.

An elegant but somewhat tedious tale about professionals promoting personal growth.