Author Guide · Spirituality
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In the early 1970s Michael A. Singer, then a doctoral student in economics at the University of Florida, refused to write his dissertation and wrote a short spiritual book instead. In 1975 he founded the Temple of the Universe, a meditation centre in Alachua, Florida, open to people of any religion; in 1981 he co-founded Medical Manager, the medical practice software company that WebMD bought in 2002. His third book, The Untethered Soul (2007), reached a far larger audience after Oprah Winfrey interviewed him on Super Soul Sunday in 2012, his first television interview. This guide covers his six key books, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 6 key books · 1974–2026 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Michael A. Singer has published six key books, best known The Untethered Soul (2007), followed by The Surrender Experiment (2015), Living Untethered (2022) and Wisdom Untethered (2026). Start with The Untethered Soul; read on for the order, the memoir, and the fraud case he writes about in it.
Where to Start with Michael A. Singer
If you want his central teaching
→ The Untethered Soul (2007) — the book everything else builds on.
If you want his life story
→ The Surrender Experiment (2015) — from a cabin in the woods to a software company and a federal case.
If you want the follow-up to The Untethered Soul
→ Living Untethered (2022) — the same ideas, framed through energy.
If you want short answers to specific questions
→ Wisdom Untethered (2026).
6 Michael A. Singer Books, in Order
The Search for Truth
Singer’s first book, written while he was in the doctoral programme in economics at the University of Florida, in place of the dissertation he declined to write. It was published in 1974 by Shanti Publications, a small press, and sets down the spiritual questions that led him into meditation and yoga.
Three Essays on Universal Law
Three short essays, first published by Shanti Publications in 1975. The first treats karma as cause and effect rather than reward and punishment; the second looks at will, the force behind action, and how desire and fear shape it; the third contrasts conditional and unconditional love and links love to the chakras.
The Untethered Soul
A book in five parts, published by New Harbinger with Noetic Books in October 2007. It starts from the voice in your head, which Singer asks you to picture as an “inner roommate” who never stops talking, and argues that you are the awareness hearing it, not the voice. Later chapters cover inner energy, letting pain pass instead of resisting it, and choosing to be happy regardless of events. It spent seven weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and sold widely after his 2012 interview with Oprah Winfrey.
The Surrender Experiment
Singer’s memoir of deciding, after a spiritual awakening as a graduate student, to let life rather than personal preference make his choices. It follows his years of meditation in the woods, the founding of the Temple of the Universe in 1975, the building of Medical Manager, and the federal fraud case against him and other executives, which ended with the charges against him dropped. Published by Harmony Books, it became a New York Times bestseller; a later hardcover edition added a new chapter and afterword.
Living Untethered
The follow-up to The Untethered Soul, published in May 2022 by New Harbinger with Sounds True. It opens with background from the physical sciences and then describes thoughts, emotions and stored impressions as energy that can be let go. It draws on Eastern philosophy, modern psychology and a few Biblical passages, and became his third New York Times bestseller.
Wisdom Untethered
Published by New Harbinger on 16 March 2026, this book is built around the questions people bring to Singer: how to find peace during chaos, quiet the mind’s chatter, release emotional pain, and deal with the need for control and the fear of change. It answers them through dialogues and traditional teaching.
In What Order to Read Michael A. Singer
The two 1970s books are early, short and hard to find; most readers start with The Untethered Soul, and nothing is lost by doing so. Living Untethered was written as its sequel and is best read after it.
The Surrender Experiment can be read at any point: it is the story of the life behind the teaching, including the Temple of the Universe, Medical Manager and the federal case. Wisdom Untethered works best last, once the vocabulary of the earlier books is familiar.
A reading path
1. The Untethered Soul (2007)
2. The Surrender Experiment (2015)
3. Living Untethered (2022)
4. Wisdom Untethered (2026)
Everything Else Michael A. Singer Published
Beyond the 6 key books: 1 more, grouped by kind.
Open a group with the + to see every book in it.
Companion books
1
1 book · 2020
- 2020The Untethered Soul Guided Journalprompts and exercises built on The Untethered Soul
The years · 1947–2026
Quick facts about Michael A. Singer
- Known for
- Michael A. Singer is known for teaching that you are not the voice in your head but the awareness that hears it, and for building a meditation centre and a billion-dollar software company side by side.
- 1947
- Born in New Rochelle, New York
- 1975
- Founds the Temple of the Universe in Alachua, Florida
- 1981
- Co-founds Medical Manager
- Born
- 6 May 1947, New Rochelle, New York; grew up in Miami
- Education
- University of Florida: bachelor’s in business and a master’s; left the economics doctorate unfinished
- Founded
- The Temple of the Universe, a meditation centre in Alachua, Florida, in 1975
- Business
- Co-founded Medical Manager in 1981; WebMD bought it in 2002; he resigned from WebMD in 2005
- Television
- Super Soul Sunday with Oprah Winfrey, August 2012, his first televised interview
- Bestsellers
- Three New York Times bestsellers: The Untethered Soul, The Surrender Experiment, Living Untethered
The red mark is 2007: The Untethered Soul, the book that made his name.
How Michael A. Singer Writes: The Voice and the Listener
Singer builds his books on one move, repeated from many angles: notice the voice in your head, and notice that you are the one hearing it. In The Untethered Soul he makes it concrete by asking you to imagine that voice as a roommate who sits beside you all day and comments on everything, then to ask whether you would put up with such a person.
His tone is casual and practical, with examples from everyday life rather than scripture. He draws on yoga and Eastern philosophy, modern psychology and occasionally the Bible, and from Living Untethered onwards he describes thoughts and emotions as energy, opening that book with a short tour of the physical sciences. He uses few technical terms; where he does, such as samskaras for stored impressions, he explains them in plain words.
The books grow out of his talks at the Temple of the Universe, where he still gives talks during the week alongside morning meditation. The Surrender Experiment is the exception in form: a memoir that tests the teaching against his own life, from years of solitude in the woods to the federal case over Medical Manager.
Frequently asked questions about Michael A. Singer’s books
How many books has Michael A. Singer written?
Six key books, from The Search for Truth (1974) to Wisdom Untethered (2026), plus The Untethered Soul Guided Journal (2020), a companion workbook.
What are Michael A. Singer’s books in order?
The Search for Truth (1974), Three Essays on Universal Law (1975), The Untethered Soul (2007), The Surrender Experiment (2015), Living Untethered (2022) and Wisdom Untethered (2026).
Where should I start with Michael A. Singer?
With The Untethered Soul (2007). It sets out the idea the later books build on: that you are not the voice in your head but the one who hears it. Read The Surrender Experiment next if you want the story of his life.
What is Michael A. Singer’s most famous book?
The Untethered Soul (2007). It was his first New York Times bestseller, spending seven weeks on the list, and reached a much wider audience after Oprah Winfrey interviewed him about it on Super Soul Sunday in 2012.
Should I read The Untethered Soul or Living Untethered first?
The Untethered Soul. Living Untethered (2022) was published as its follow-up and assumes you know the basic idea; it adds a framework of energy and stored impressions.
What happened with Michael Singer and Medical Manager?
Singer co-founded Medical Manager in 1981; WebMD bought it in 2002, and he resigned from WebMD in 2005. Federal prosecutors later charged him and other Medical Manager executives with securities fraud. In January 2010 he entered a deferred prosecution agreement and agreed to forfeit 2.5 million dollars, and the charges against him were dropped; six executives pleaded guilty. Singer says he was framed by another executive, a claim that has not been verified. He tells his side in The Surrender Experiment.
What is the Temple of the Universe?
A meditation centre in Alachua, Florida, that Singer founded in 1975 and still teaches at. It is open to people of any religion and holds morning meditation, talks during the week and Sunday services.
Did Oprah interview Michael Singer?
Yes. Oprah and Michael Singer: The Untethered Soul premiered on Super Soul Sunday on OWN on 5 August 2012. It was his first televised interview.
Is Michael A. Singer still alive?
Yes. He was born on 6 May 1947 in New Rochelle, New York, and published Wisdom Untethered in March 2026.
Footnotes
- Michael Alan Singer — Wikipedia
- The Untethered Soul reading group guide — ReadingGroupGuides.com
- The Surrender Experiment — Penguin Random House
- Living Untethered — Library Journal, 2022
- Oprah and Michael Singer: The Untethered Soul — Santa Fe College, 2012
- In the moment — University of Florida CLAS News
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“You are not the voice of the mind—you are the one who hears it.”
— Michael A. Singer, The Untethered Soul (2007)
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