Boris Cyrulnik is a neuropsychiatrist and director of education at the University of Toulon. He is the author of some of Odile Jacob’s biggest successes, including Un merveilleux Malheur (“A Wonderful Misfortune”), Les Vilains Petits Canards (“The Naughty Little Ducklings”), Les Nourritures affectives (“Emotional Foods”), Parler d’amour au bord du gouffre (“Speaking of Love on the Brink”), De chair et d’âme (“Of Flesh And Soul”), Autobiographie d’un épouvantail (“Autobiography Of A Scarecrow”), Je me souviens (“I Remember”), Sauve-toi, la vie t’appelle (“Run, Life Is Calling”) which sold over 200000 copies, and, in 2014, Les âmes blesses (“The Wounded Souls”)


"There is no life without trial, no affection without abandon, no connection without hurt, no society without solitude. Fortunately, life is a battlefield where heroes are born: heroes who die so we can live. Our heroes show us the way," says Boris Cyrulnik
This book, in the vein of Sauve-toi, la vie t’appelle (“Run, Life Is Calling”), is an extraordinary document which showcases both Boris Cyrulnik’s talent as a writer and the originality of his thought. His reflection on our need for heroes reveals another dimension of the will to overcome hardship that Boris Cyrulnik teaches us to recognize and strengthen, and brings his body of work to a real conclusion.
Our heroes raise us above the blandness of days and the sadness that it we sometimes need to live through. They give our lives the pace and scale of the great epics. Our need for heroes is salutary and life-affirming.