The Listener explores the author's personal journey of self-discovery through the lens of psychoanalysis. Allen Wheelis, a practicing psychoanalyst, turns his professional expertise inward to dissect his own life, examining the roots of his inhibitions, insecurities, and the profound impact of his relationship with his mother. The narrative details his struggle to establish himself as an adult and a writer, revealing how a mysterious illness became an unconscious mechanism to excuse his perceived failure, ultimately leading him to medicine and psychiatry.

The book is presented as a deeply personal memoir where the author, a psychoanalyst, applies his professional skills to his own life. The jacket copy suggests that the work delves into the author's struggles with inhibition and his mother's influence, and how a mysterious illness served as an excuse for his perceived failure as a writer. It posits that such self-analysis, while insightful, offers little personal solace or guarantee of happiness to the analyst.