Why are many of the most successful people plagued by feelings of emptiness and alienation This wise and profound book has provided thousands of readers with an answerand has helped them to apply it to their own lives.Far too many of us had to learn as children to hide our own feelings needs and memories skillfully in order to meet our parents expectations and win their love. Alice Miller writes When I used the word gifted in the title I had in mind neither children who receive high grades in school nor children talented in a special way. I simply meant all of us who have survived an abusive childhood thanks to an ability to adapt even to unspeakable cruelty by becoming numb Without this gift offered us by nature we would not have survived.