Editorial Policy

Who runs this site

Yalom.com is the official website of Irvin D. Yalom, maintained with the permission of the Yalom family. The book pages, excerpts, endorsements and the autobiographical note on this site come from the original author site that ran here from 2018 to 2022 and are identified as his. The reading guides published since July 2026 are written by the site’s editorial staff, the Yalom Editorial Team; Dr. Yalom does not write, review or endorse them.

Who writes the guides

Every reading guide carries the byline of the Yalom Editorial Team, the site’s editorial staff. The team is responsible for the accuracy of every guide and can be reached at [email protected]. Where a guide has a named contributor, that person is credited on the guide itself; a team byline does not identify an individual clinical reviewer.

How a guide is made

1. Selection. We only write about books we have read in full. Where a guide compares translations or editions, we name the translator, publisher and year of each edition we consulted.
2. Verdicts. We say which book to start with, which to skip, and who a book is not for. Where experts disagree about a book, we say so.
3. Ratings. Scores express our editorial judgment of a book’s fit for its intended reader, clarity, usefulness and subject coverage. They are not aggregated customer ratings and not measures of clinical effectiveness; a difference of a few tenths is not a measured difference.
4. Quotations. Short quotations are taken from the edition named in the guide and kept within fair-use limits. We do not reproduce chapters, poems or song lyrics.
5. AI assistance. We use AI tools to help outline, draft and fact-check. Every published guide is read, edited and approved by an editor of the team, who is responsible for its accuracy. No guide is published without a person reading it in full.
6. Dates. Each guide shows the date it was published and the date it was last substantively revised. Book prices shown next to a purchase link are checked daily and labelled as such; they are not a freshness counter for the guide itself.
7. Mental health. We write about books and ideas, not about the reader’s condition. We do not give diagnoses, treatment advice or crisis guidance. If you are in distress, a book is not a substitute for professional support; in the US you can call or text 988.

How this site makes money

Yalom.com earns a commission when you buy a book through an Amazon link (or another retailer’s link, where shown) on this site. The commission does not change the price you pay and does not change which books we recommend: our picks are decided before any link is added, and a book earns its place by being the right book for the reader described in the guide. Full details are on the Affiliate Disclosure page.

We do not publish paid placements inside reading guides, and we do not accept payment to recommend a book.

The “Partners” section in the site footer lists businesses that have paid to appear there. Those links are advertisements and are not endorsed by, or related to, the editorial content of this site.

Corrections

If we have made a mistake, write to [email protected]. Corrections to facts, dates, translators or editions are made within seven days and noted at the foot of the guide. Where a guide is withdrawn or merged into another, the old address redirects to the page that replaces it.

What we will not publish

• Symptom checklists, self-diagnosis or treatment advice.
• Quote collections from authors whose work is still in copyright.
• Reviews of online-therapy services.
• Claims about living people that we cannot source to the person’s own published statements, their institution, or a reputable biography.

Last revised: November 4, 2026. Responsible editor: Yalom Editorial Team, [email protected].