A very useful insight, 29 Sep 2008
This book gives a very interesting insight into how people can live with a bi-polar mind. The fact she is very successful and appears to cope with life might surprise some but then when you look below at some of the compulsions the reality of this illness shines through.

Yes the book is a bit over the place but that is how the mind works. This might help anyone who lives or knows anyone with this illness. It also gives a good insight into how difficult it is to medicate and why the patient might rebel from medication.

If you want an introduction to the world of someone whose mind doesn't tick quite the same as most people rather than or before getting medical books then please have a look at this one.

Absolutely fascinating, 27 Apr 2008
This memoir is compelling reading. I have found it to be frank and honest as well as informative. I had a friend, sadly no longer with us, who was manic depressive and I found reading this a way of understanding who he was.

Kay Jamison writes about her life from seventeen - when she had her first attack of manic depression - through to her life now as an adult over twenty years later. It is an extremely well written account and whilst it is factual and often distressing to read I actually enjoyed it. It shows not only her courage but her determination to succeed at life with an illness that almost killed her.

I couldn't actually put this book down and read it in the course of one day, over a series of sittings. This book must be of help for people who don't know how to deal with their own turmoil at the hands of this illness and likewise for those whose lives are affected by it. It doesn't have a text book feel about it but nor does it feel lightweight.

I can't recommend this book enough!

moving account of a talented woman's struggle, 13 Sep 2007
Moving account of a talented woman's struggle to work as a psychologist as well as living with bipolar. As someone with depression, I was moved by her account as well as identifying with her issues with the arrogance prevalent among a segment of the medical community. Highly recommended, laced with poetry; I was particularly moved by her epilogue @ the end where she states that if she had the choice, she would has chosen to be born with bipolar as when high or well, she appreciates the joys and beauties in life more than she would if not manic depressive.

An Unquiet Mind - Must Have for Bipolar Sufferers and those around them, 29 Aug 2007
You will not find any book other than this that explains what bipolar is all about. It is my bible. The book follows Kay's story and if you suffer with bipolar you can definitely relate to everything. This will also be helpful to those around you as it will help them gain a better understanding.

IF YOU SUFFER FROM BIPOLAR YOU WILL FIND THIS VERY HELPFUL

Thought provoking and moving, 22 May 2007
An excellent read, a remarkable account of a journey through manic-depressive illness. Anyone diagnosed with manic-depression or has an interest will find this a moving, eye opening and inspiring book. Kay Jamison's shares her honest heartfelt thoughts and feelings, a lady to be truly admired.

A very useful insight, 29 Sep 2008
This book gives a very interesting insight into how people can live with a bi-polar mind. The fact she is very successful and appears to cope with life might surprise some but then when you look below at some of the compulsions the reality of this illness shines through.

Yes the book is a bit over the place but that is how the mind works. This might help anyone who lives or knows anyone with this illness. It also gives a good insight into how difficult it is to medicate and why the patient might rebel from medication.

If you want an introduction to the world of someone whose mind doesn't tick quite the same as most people rather than or before getting medical books then please have a look at this one.

Absolutely fascinating, 27 Apr 2008
This memoir is compelling reading. I have found it to be frank and honest as well as informative. I had a friend, sadly no longer with us, who was manic depressive and I found reading this a way of understanding who he was.

Kay Jamison writes about her life from seventeen - when she had her first attack of manic depression - through to her life now as an adult over twenty years later. It is an extremely well written account and whilst it is factual and often distressing to read I actually enjoyed it. It shows not only her courage but her determination to succeed at life with an illness that almost killed her.

I couldn't actually put this book down and read it in the course of one day, over a series of sittings. This book must be of help for people who don't know how to deal with their own turmoil at the hands of this illness and likewise for those whose lives are affected by it. It doesn't have a text book feel about it but nor does it feel lightweight.

I can't recommend this book enough!

moving account of a talented woman's struggle, 13 Sep 2007
Moving account of a talented woman's struggle to work as a psychologist as well as living with bipolar. As someone with depression, I was moved by her account as well as identifying with her issues with the arrogance prevalent among a segment of the medical community. Highly recommended, laced with poetry; I was particularly moved by her epilogue @ the end where she states that if she had the choice, she would has chosen to be born with bipolar as when high or well, she appreciates the joys and beauties in life more than she would if not manic depressive.

An Unquiet Mind - Must Have for Bipolar Sufferers and those around them, 29 Aug 2007
You will not find any book other than this that explains what bipolar is all about. It is my bible. The book follows Kay's story and if you suffer with bipolar you can definitely relate to everything. This will also be helpful to those around you as it will help them gain a better understanding.

IF YOU SUFFER FROM BIPOLAR YOU WILL FIND THIS VERY HELPFUL

Thought provoking and moving, 22 May 2007
An excellent read, a remarkable account of a journey through manic-depressive illness. Anyone diagnosed with manic-depression or has an interest will find this a moving, eye opening and inspiring book. Kay Jamison's shares her honest heartfelt thoughts and feelings, a lady to be truly admired.

Wah Wah Wah., 18 Nov 2008
Oh boo hoo! Another misleading synopsis, i was expecting a colorful and detailed portrayal of a young girl's fight with depression, and all i get is this! - it's like listening to someone continuously sob their heart out, no matter what you say, except, wait, it's in a book! I was expecting a lot more, and for the first few paragraphs i was willing to give it a shot, hoping things would pick up, but i couldn't bare to read a novel about a whiney girl, writing a book and passing on the depression. Sheer boredom.

If you want to die, go ahead.

Boo Hoo I'm Depressed, 30 Sep 2008
I have never read such rubbish in my life!
Having just read Marya Hornbachers 'Madness', a true story of her struggle with BiPolar Disorder, I found Prozac Nation extremely boring.

There are only so many pages I can read about some little girl whinning over her parents breaking up, etc etc..

I found this book to be full to the top of self pity, and as a sufferer of depression who is also on Prozac, this book seems to not only glamourise the illness but read like it is a ticket to the alternative 'cool' life style.

Elizabeth Wurtzel seems never to grow up through out her years, the end of the book still reads like she is the same old spoilt 10 year old she was at the start.

And frankly, how she manages to remember all of this stuff happening in her life whilst she is on so much medication at such a 'terrible' time in her life, is quite surprising.

My opinion - read Marya Hornbacher.

Good, but too long, 13 Sep 2008
I felt that the story dragged on a bit too much, even though it is a good book to read. i wasnt really interested on how she got to that point, in fact i wanted to know exactly what happened at the age she started. She does go back to when she was younger, which makes the read slightly confusing at times.

YES! EXACTLY!!!, 19 Jun 2008
Several times as I was reading "Prozac Nation", I thought, "I want my parents, my friends, everybody to read this memoir!" It's on the spot! Completely!

Elizabeth Wurtzel manages an amazing feat. She describes her depression without dramatizing or romanticizing it. It's ugly, discouraging, and dark, but it's true and honest. "Prozac Nation" isn't a fun read or a memoir you plow through forgetting the details. "Prozac Nation" devours you.

"Prozac Nation" is Elizabeth's story of growing up with divorced parents, about being the kid in the middle of feuting parents, being the odd man out in school, and over time, suddenly, despressive. The majority of the story is when Elizabeth is at Harvard in the grounding mill of academia, treatment, the black wave, and life (and death).

One of the thing that I like about "Prozac Nation" is that it doesn't end. No "and she lived happily ever after. The end". The realization that you never truly recover depression is there. You can get better, you can turn your life around, but you never forget.

Louise.

Excellent, excellent, excellent, 23 Apr 2008
I was completly enveloped in this book, from start to finish.
It was beautifully written, emotional and thought provoking.
There were times, whilst reading this, that I felt a desperation for Elizabeth's situation, wanting to keep reading because i needed to know that she would be o.k, at least until the end of the chapter!
I enjoyed this book so much i quickly ordered the sequel 'More, Now Again'.
i just feel compelled to know where the story goes....

Oliver Sacks's luminous memoir Uncle Tungsten charts the growth of a mind. Born in 1933 into a family of formidably intelligent London Jews, he discovered the wonders of the physical sciences early from his parents and their flock of brilliant siblings, most notably "Uncle Tungsten" (real name, Dave), who "manufactured lightbulbs with filaments of fine tungsten wire". Metals were the substances that first attracted young Oliver, and his descriptions of their colours, textures and properties are as sensuous and romantic as an art lover's rhapsodies over an Old Master. Seamlessly interwoven with his personal recollections is a masterful survey of scientific history, with emphasis on the great chemists like Robert Boyle, Antoine Lavoisier and Humphry Davy (Sacks's personal hero). Yet this is not a dry intellectual autobiography; his parents in particular, both doctors, are vividly sketched. His sociable father loved house calls and "was drawn to medicine because its practice was central in human society", while his shy mother "had an intense feeling for structure... for her [medicine] was part of natural history and biology". For young Oliver, unhappy at the brutal boarding school he was sent to during the war, and afraid that he would become mentally ill like his older brother, chemistry was a refuge in an uncertain world. He would outgrow his passion for metals and become a neurologist, but as readers of Awakenings and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat know, he would never leave behind his conviction that science is a profoundly human endeavour. --Wendy Smith

A very useful insight, 29 Sep 2008
This book gives a very interesting insight into how people can live with a bi-polar mind. The fact she is very successful and appears to cope with life might surprise some but then when you look below at some of the compulsions the reality of this illness shines through.

Yes the book is a bit over the place but that is how the mind works. This might help anyone who lives or knows anyone with this illness. It also gives a good insight into how difficult it is to medicate and why the patient might rebel from medication.

If you want an introduction to the world of someone whose mind doesn't tick quite the same as most people rather than or before getting medical books then please have a look at this one.

Absolutely fascinating, 27 Apr 2008
This memoir is compelling reading. I have found it to be frank and honest as well as informative. I had a friend, sadly no longer with us, who was manic depressive and I found reading this a way of understanding who he was.

Kay Jamison writes about her life from seventeen - when she had her first attack of manic depression - through to her life now as an adult over twenty years later. It is an extremely well written account and whilst it is factual and often distressing to read I actually enjoyed it. It shows not only her courage but her determination to succeed at life with an illness that almost killed her.

I couldn't actually put this book down and read it in the course of one day, over a series of sittings. This book must be of help for people who don't know how to deal with their own turmoil at the hands of this illness and likewise for those whose lives are affected by it. It doesn't have a text book feel about it but nor does it feel lightweight.

I can't recommend this book enough!

moving account of a talented woman's struggle, 13 Sep 2007
Moving account of a talented woman's struggle to work as a psychologist as well as living with bipolar. As someone with depression, I was moved by her account as well as identifying with her issues with the arrogance prevalent among a segment of the medical community. Highly recommended, laced with poetry; I was particularly moved by her epilogue @ the end where she states that if she had the choice, she would has chosen to be born with bipolar as when high or well, she appreciates the joys and beauties in life more than she would if not manic depressive.

An Unquiet Mind - Must Have for Bipolar Sufferers and those around them, 29 Aug 2007
You will not find any book other than this that explains what bipolar is all about. It is my bible. The book follows Kay's story and if you suffer with bipolar you can definitely relate to everything. This will also be helpful to those around you as it will help them gain a better understanding.

IF YOU SUFFER FROM BIPOLAR YOU WILL FIND THIS VERY HELPFUL

Thought provoking and moving, 22 May 2007
An excellent read, a remarkable account of a journey through manic-depressive illness. Anyone diagnosed with manic-depression or has an interest will find this a moving, eye opening and inspiring book. Kay Jamison's shares her honest heartfelt thoughts and feelings, a lady to be truly admired.

Wah Wah Wah., 18 Nov 2008
Oh boo hoo! Another misleading synopsis, i was expecting a colorful and detailed portrayal of a young girl's fight with depression, and all i get is this! - it's like listening to someone continuously sob their heart out, no matter what you say, except, wait, it's in a book! I was expecting a lot more, and for the first few paragraphs i was willing to give it a shot, hoping things would pick up, but i couldn't bare to read a novel about a whiney girl, writing a book and passing on the depression. Sheer boredom.

If you want to die, go ahead.

Boo Hoo I'm Depressed, 30 Sep 2008
I have never read such rubbish in my life!
Having just read Marya Hornbachers 'Madness', a true story of her struggle with BiPolar Disorder, I found Prozac Nation extremely boring.

There are only so many pages I can read about some little girl whinning over her parents breaking up, etc etc..

I found this book to be full to the top of self pity, and as a sufferer of depression who is also on Prozac, this book seems to not only glamourise the illness but read like it is a ticket to the alternative 'cool' life style.

Elizabeth Wurtzel seems never to grow up through out her years, the end of the book still reads like she is the same old spoilt 10 year old she was at the start.

And frankly, how she manages to remember all of this stuff happening in her life whilst she is on so much medication at such a 'terrible' time in her life, is quite surprising.

My opinion - read Marya Hornbacher.

Good, but too long, 13 Sep 2008
I felt that the story dragged on a bit too much, even though it is a good book to read. i wasnt really interested on how she got to that point, in fact i wanted to know exactly what happened at the age she started. She does go back to when she was younger, which makes the read slightly confusing at times.

YES! EXACTLY!!!, 19 Jun 2008
Several times as I was reading "Prozac Nation", I thought, "I want my parents, my friends, everybody to read this memoir!" It's on the spot! Completely!

Elizabeth Wurtzel manages an amazing feat. She describes her depression without dramatizing or romanticizing it. It's ugly, discouraging, and dark, but it's true and honest. "Prozac Nation" isn't a fun read or a memoir you plow through forgetting the details. "Prozac Nation" devours you.

"Prozac Nation" is Elizabeth's story of growing up with divorced parents, about being the kid in the middle of feuting parents, being the odd man out in school, and over time, suddenly, despressive. The majority of the story is when Elizabeth is at Harvard in the grounding mill of academia, treatment, the black wave, and life (and death).

One of the thing that I like about "Prozac Nation" is that it doesn't end. No "and she lived happily ever after. The end". The realization that you never truly recover depression is there. You can get better, you can turn your life around, but you never forget.

Louise.

Excellent, excellent, excellent, 23 Apr 2008
I was completly enveloped in this book, from start to finish.
It was beautifully written, emotional and thought provoking.
There were times, whilst reading this, that I felt a desperation for Elizabeth's situation, wanting to keep reading because i needed to know that she would be o.k, at least until the end of the chapter!
I enjoyed this book so much i quickly ordered the sequel 'More, Now Again'.
i just feel compelled to know where the story goes....


Oliver Sacks history of chemistry, disguised as a biography: disappointing. , 29 Jul 2008
After some years ago reading Sacks classic `The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat `I was keen to read something else. His biography seemed to be an intriguing option. Sadly I was very disappointed with this book. Although the title hints at an involvement with chemistry I did not expect the book to be almost entirely about chemistry and its history. I estimate that 95% of the book is concerned with this subject. There is little space given to detail of his actual life and absolutely no mention of psychology or neurology. Since this is of course the aspect of Sacks that attracts most people to his books this will be a complete surprise to most people. The detail of the history of chemistry is certainly too some extent interesting, but it becomes far too in-depth and specific. Unless you have an explicit interest in chemistry then this may well become somewhat tedious and boring, as it did for me. I finished the book feeling that I had learnt nothing new and gained little. Although the other reviews rate the book highly I can not help thinking that many people will ultimately be disappointed by this biography that is really anything but a biography. Had Sacks opted to scrap the small fraction of the book that relates to himself and his family and titled the book as a history of chemistry then it might be more appealing to an audience that might fully appreciate it.

The Metaphor of Chemistry, 02 Dec 2007
Dr. Sacks has written a number books beautifully crafted around the fascinating neurological lives of his patients. And to an extent in them we can glimpse the limitations of neurololgy in providing finer and finer observations but until recent years only more limited clinical help.But Oliver Sacks has always managed this with an apparent self effacing humanity.
In Uncle Tungsten he turns the magnifying glass on himself and we watch his own growth and development through the metaphor of the Periodic Table of the Elements.
His humanity shone through and when I came to the end,too soon, I was so engrossed that I was uncertain whether I had been reading his autobiography or my own.

Calling all scientists, 06 Jul 2006
I adored this book. I got it from my local library and am now buying my own copy. However, I would add that I read chemistry at college and was recommended it by another chemist. It is not a particularly difficult book, I want my 14-year-old to read it, but it is much more chemistry than biography.
It also made me think about what is missing now the practical element has been taken from the education system in the UK now; if you want to inspire a bright teenager this is the way to do it (I particularly like the passage about the 3lb lump of sodium and the local pond - I won't spoil it for non-chemists).
The biographical detail is interspersed with chemical passages and potted biographies of Sack's favourite chemists from the past. The thing that stood out the most though, was the sheer excitement of living through science as it was refined and discovered. There was no atom bomb when the book started, that came along the way. One of Sack's uncles had a scintillation gadget with a tiny amount of radioactive substance that emitted radiation you could see. There is an excitement and enthusiasm not found in many books now.
As well as being gripped by the science, its application and the history, I found it an extremely well written book. I want to read his neurological books as a result.

Thank heaven for puberty's hormonal rush, 27 Dec 2005
"... I wanted to lay hands on cobaltite and niccolite, and compounds or minerals of manganese and molybdenum, of uranium and chromium ... I wanted to pulverize them, treat them with acid, roast them, reduce them - whatever was necessary - so I could extract their metals myself."

In the life of a pre-pubescent boy, whatever happened to the simple pleasures of sports, chasing girls to pull their pigtails, or playing cowboys and Indians?

UNCLE TUNGSTEN is the childhood memoir of Oliver Sacks, who, as the son of two physicians in 1930s and 40s London, adopts more cerebral interests. Actually, let's call them obsessions, e.g., Mendeleev's Table of the Elements:

"I copied it into my exercise book and carried it everywhere ... I spent hours now, enchanted, totally absorbed, wandering, making discoveries, in the enchanted garden of Mendeleev."

Oliver's propensity for intellectual pursuits was further encouraged by his two maternal uncles, Dave and Abe, two scientist/business entrepreneurs, the former nicknamed UNCLE TUNGSTEN for his preoccupation with that element and his process for manufacturing tungsten light bulbs.

This engaging and instructive volume is the author's narrative of his life from age 6 to 15, beginning in 1939 at the beginning of WWII, when he was protectively sent out of London to a boarding school. Returning in 1943, he set up his own household lab and began experimenting with a vengeance, his chief interest being metals and their properties. The text is leavened with descriptions of his home life, his parents and brothers, and summaries of the achievements of giants in the field of Chemistry: John Dalton, Robert Boyle, the Curies, Antoine Lavoisier, Dmitri Mendeleev, Ernest Rutherford, Michael Faraday, and others. UNCLE TUNGSTEN is a short, popular history of the science.

I'm not awarding 5 stars because obsessions, especially someone else's, can become tiresome. Even Oliver's parents, responsible as any for his scientific curiosity, could be driven to distraction. At one point on a family auto trip, the young Sacks blathers on about one of his favorite elements for twenty minutes in the back seat until his father shouts, "Enough about thallium!"

By the age of 15, Oliver's preoccupation with chemistry began to ebb as the hormones of adolescence began to flow. The boy, becoming a young man, discovers music and sex. Those then around him should thank the Almighty for puberty; he was becoming an insufferable eccentric. He grew up to be a neurologist.

Not the book you expect, 28 Mar 2005
This is a childhood memoir from Oliver Sacks.

I've been an admirer of Sacks for years: it's clear from his books that he has a scintillating intelligence which he applies indiscriminately, not just to medicine, but art, music, literature, philosophy, and sciences of all kinds.

I bought this book (early Christmas present to myself) to gain more insight into the man.

Three quarters of the book is a history of the development of chemistry, which Sacks had a passion for as a boy (aided by two of his uncles especially). This is all very well, and is told in Sacks' very readable style, but it leaves me wanting more background to Sacks himself. Reading through his other books (I have the lot) one sees only tantalising glimpses of the man behind the words: I had hoped this book might provide the personal information I had wanted. Sadly, I was disappointed.

Even sifting through what we get, there are some very disturbing glimpses into his childhood.

His mother (an obstetrician and professor of anatomy) would sometimes bring home malformed foetuses which had died at birth, or been drowned by her "like a kitten" shortly afterwards. These she encourages the (13-year old!) Sacks to dissect, and would teach him about anatomy all the while.

Later she arranges for him to dissect the body of a teenage girl at the local medical school under the supervision of "Professor G".

Sacks goes on holiday to the seaside with his family. He is given a large live octopus as a gift by a fisherman, and keeps it in the family bath, where he talks of how he feeds it live crabs and it changes colour because it seems to recognise him. The maid comes into the bathroom one day and kills the octopus with a broom handle in a panic. Sacks, of course, then dissects his beloved pet and keeps parts of it preserved in jars on his shelves for many years.

While it seems pretty clear that Sacks had a very precocious intellect, and was probably streets ahead of his peers in terms of intelligence, I find these incidents very disturbing.

The more I read Sacks, the more I think that perhaps there are unpleasant depths to his character that this book gives us only a hint of.

As a description of chemistry, this book is entertaining enough. As a glimpse into the life of Oliver Sacks, it is both inadequate and troubling.

A very useful insight, 29 Sep 2008
This book gives a very interesting insight into how people can live with a bi-polar mind. The fact she is very successful and appears to cope with life might surprise some but then when you look below at some of the compulsions the reality of this illness shines through.

Yes the book is a bit over the place but that is how the mind works. This might help anyone who lives or knows anyone with this illness. It also gives a good insight into how difficult it is to medicate and why the patient might rebel from medication.

If you want an introduction to the world of someone whose mind doesn't tick quite the same as most people rather than or before getting medical books then please have a look at this one.

Absolutely fascinating, 27 Apr 2008
This memoir is compelling reading. I have found it to be frank and honest as well as informative. I had a friend, sadly no longer with us, who was manic depressive and I found reading this a way of understanding who he was.

Kay Jamison writes about her life from seventeen - when she had her first attack of manic depression - through to her life now as an adult over twenty years later. It is an extremely well written account and whilst it is factual and often distressing to read I actually enjoyed it. It shows not only her courage but her determination to succeed at life with an illness that almost killed her.

I couldn't actually put this book down and read it in the course of one day, over a series of sittings. This book must be of help for people who don't know how to deal with their own turmoil at the hands of this illness and likewise for those whose lives are affected by it. It doesn't have a text book feel about it but nor does it feel lightweight.

I can't recommend this book enough!

moving account of a talented woman's struggle, 13 Sep 2007
Moving account of a talented woman's struggle to work as a psychologist as well as living with bipolar. As someone with depression, I was moved by her account as well as identifying with her issues with the arrogance prevalent among a segment of the medical community. Highly recommended, laced with poetry; I was particularly moved by her epilogue @ the end where she states that if she had the choice, she would has chosen to be born with bipolar as when high or well, she appreciates the joys and beauties in life more than she would if not manic depressive.

An Unquiet Mind - Must Have for Bipolar Sufferers and those around them, 29 Aug 2007
You will not find any book other than this that explains what bipolar is all about. It is my bible. The book follows Kay's story and if you suffer with bipolar you can definitely relate to everything. This will also be helpful to those around you as it will help them gain a better understanding.

IF YOU SUFFER FROM BIPOLAR YOU WILL FIND THIS VERY HELPFUL

Thought provoking and moving, 22 May 2007
An excellent read, a remarkable account of a journey through manic-depressive illness. Anyone diagnosed with manic-depression or has an interest will find this a moving, eye opening and inspiring book. Kay Jamison's shares her honest heartfelt thoughts and feelings, a lady to be truly admired.

Wah Wah Wah., 18 Nov 2008
Oh boo hoo! Another misleading synopsis, i was expecting a colorful and detailed portrayal of a young girl's fight with depression, and all i get is this! - it's like listening to someone continuously sob their heart out, no matter what you say, except, wait, it's in a book! I was expecting a lot more, and for the first few paragraphs i was willing to give it a shot, hoping things would pick up, but i couldn't bare to read a novel about a whiney girl, writing a book and passing on the depression. Sheer boredom.

If you want to die, go ahead.

Boo Hoo I'm Depressed, 30 Sep 2008
I have never read such rubbish in my life!
Having just read Marya Hornbachers 'Madness', a true story of her struggle with BiPolar Disorder, I found Prozac Nation extremely boring.

There are only so many pages I can read about some little girl whinning over her parents breaking up, etc etc..

I found this book to be full to the top of self pity, and as a sufferer of depression who is also on Prozac, this book seems to not only glamourise the illness but read like it is a ticket to the alternative 'cool' life style.

Elizabeth Wurtzel seems never to grow up through out her years, the end of the book still reads like she is the same old spoilt 10 year old she was at the start.

And frankly, how she manages to remember all of this stuff happening in her life whilst she is on so much medication at such a 'terrible' time in her life, is quite surprising.

My opinion - read Marya Hornbacher.

Good, but too long, 13 Sep 2008
I felt that the story dragged on a bit too much, even though it is a good book to read. i wasnt really interested on how she got to that point, in fact i wanted to know exactly what happened at the age she started. She does go back to when she was younger, which makes the read slightly confusing at times.

YES! EXACTLY!!!, 19 Jun 2008
Several times as I was reading "Prozac Nation", I thought, "I want my parents, my friends, everybody to read this memoir!" It's on the spot! Completely!

Elizabeth Wurtzel manages an amazing feat. She describes her depression without dramatizing or romanticizing it. It's ugly, discouraging, and dark, but it's true and honest. "Prozac Nation" isn't a fun read or a memoir you plow through forgetting the details. "Prozac Nation" devours you.

"Prozac Nation" is Elizabeth's story of growing up with divorced parents, about being the kid in the middle of feuting parents, being the odd man out in school, and over time, suddenly, despressive. The majority of the story is when Elizabeth is at Harvard in the grounding mill of academia, treatment, the black wave, and life (and death).

One of the thing that I like about "Prozac Nation" is that it doesn't end. No "and she lived happily ever after. The end". The realization that you never truly recover depression is there. You can get better, you can turn your life around, but you never forget.

Louise.

Excellent, excellent, excellent, 23 Apr 2008
I was completly enveloped in this book, from start to finish.
It was beautifully written, emotional and thought provoking.
There were times, whilst reading this, that I felt a desperation for Elizabeth's situation, wanting to keep reading because i needed to know that she would be o.k, at least until the end of the chapter!
I enjoyed this book so much i quickly ordered the sequel 'More, Now Again'.
i just feel compelled to know where the story goes....


Oliver Sacks history of chemistry, disguised as a biography: disappointing. , 29 Jul 2008
After some years ago reading Sacks classic `The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat `I was keen to read something else. His biography seemed to be an intriguing option. Sadly I was very disappointed with this book. Although the title hints at an involvement with chemistry I did not expect the book to be almost entirely about chemistry and its history. I estimate that 95% of the book is concerned with this subject. There is little space given to detail of his actual life and absolutely no mention of psychology or neurology. Since this is of course the aspect of Sacks that attracts most people to his books this will be a complete surprise to most people. The detail of the history of chemistry is certainly too some extent interesting, but it becomes far too in-depth and specific. Unless you have an explicit interest in chemistry then this may well become somewhat tedious and boring, as it did for me. I finished the book feeling that I had learnt nothing new and gained little. Although the other reviews rate the book highly I can not help thinking that many people will ultimately be disappointed by this biography that is really anything but a biography. Had Sacks opted to scrap the small fraction of the book that relates to himself and his family and titled the book as a history of chemistry then it might be more appealing to an audience that might fully appreciate it.

The Metaphor of Chemistry, 02 Dec 2007
Dr. Sacks has written a number books beautifully crafted around the fascinating neurological lives of his patients. And to an extent in them we can glimpse the limitations of neurololgy in providing finer and finer observations but until recent years only more limited clinical help.But Oliver Sacks has always managed this with an apparent self effacing humanity.
In Uncle Tungsten he turns the magnifying glass on himself and we watch his own growth and development through the metaphor of the Periodic Table of the Elements.
His humanity shone through and when I came to the end,too soon, I was so engrossed that I was uncertain whether I had been reading his autobiography or my own.

Calling all scientists, 06 Jul 2006
I adored this book. I got it from my local library and am now buying my own copy. However, I would add that I read chemistry at college and was recommended it by another chemist. It is not a particularly difficult book, I want my 14-year-old to read it, but it is much more chemistry than biography.
It also made me think about what is missing now the practical element has been taken from the education system in the UK now; if you want to inspire a bright teenager this is the way to do it (I particularly like the passage about the 3lb lump of sodium and the local pond - I won't spoil it for non-chemists).
The biographical detail is interspersed with chemical passages and potted biographies of Sack's favourite chemists from the past. The thing that stood out the most though, was the sheer excitement of living through science as it was refined and discovered. There was no atom bomb when the book started, that came along the way. One of Sack's uncles had a scintillation gadget with a tiny amount of radioactive substance that emitted radiation you could see. There is an excitement and enthusiasm not found in many books now.
As well as being gripped by the science, its application and the history, I found it an extremely well written book. I want to read his neurological books as a result.

Thank heaven for puberty's hormonal rush, 27 Dec 2005
"... I wanted to lay hands on cobaltite and niccolite, and compounds or minerals of manganese and molybdenum, of uranium and chromium ... I wanted to pulverize them, treat them with acid, roast them, reduce them - whatever was necessary - so I could extract their metals myself."

In the life of a pre-pubescent boy, whatever happened to the simple pleasures of sports, chasing girls to pull their pigtails, or playing cowboys and Indians?

UNCLE TUNGSTEN is the childhood memoir of Oliver Sacks, who, as the son of two physicians in 1930s and 40s London, adopts more cerebral interests. Actually, let's call them obsessions, e.g., Mendeleev's Table of the Elements:

"I copied it into my exercise book and carried it everywhere ... I spent hours now, enchanted, totally absorbed, wandering, making discoveries, in the enchanted garden of Mendeleev."

Oliver's propensity for intellectual pursuits was further encouraged by his two maternal uncles, Dave and Abe, two scientist/business entrepreneurs, the former nicknamed UNCLE TUNGSTEN for his preoccupation with that element and his process for manufacturing tungsten light bulbs.

This engaging and instructive volume is the author's narrative of his life from age 6 to 15, beginning in 1939 at the beginning of WWII, when he was protectively sent out of London to a boarding school. Returning in 1943, he set up his own household lab and began experimenting with a vengeance, his chief interest being metals and their properties. The text is leavened with descriptions of his home life, his parents and brothers, and summaries of the achievements of giants in the field of Chemistry: John Dalton, Robert Boyle, the Curies, Antoine Lavoisier, Dmitri Mendeleev, Ernest Rutherford, Michael Faraday, and others. UNCLE TUNGSTEN is a short, popular history of the science.

I'm not awarding 5 stars because obsessions, especially someone else's, can become tiresome. Even Oliver's parents, responsible as any for his scientific curiosity, could be driven to distraction. At one point on a family auto trip, the young Sacks blathers on about one of his favorite elements for twenty minutes in the back seat until his father shouts, "Enough about thallium!"

By the age of 15, Oliver's preoccupation with chemistry began to ebb as the hormones of adolescence began to flow. The boy, becoming a young man, discovers music and sex. Those then around him should thank the Almighty for puberty; he was becoming an insufferable eccentric. He grew up to be a neurologist.

Not the book you expect, 28 Mar 2005
This is a childhood memoir from Oliver Sacks.

I've been an admirer of Sacks for years: it's clear from his books that he has a scintillating intelligence which he applies indiscriminately, not just to medicine, but art, music, literature, philosophy, and sciences of all kinds.

I bought this book (early Christmas present to myself) to gain more insight into the man.

Three quarters of the book is a history of the development of chemistry, which Sacks had a passion for as a boy (aided by two of his uncles especially). This is all very well, and is told in Sacks' very readable style, but it leaves me wanting more background to Sacks himself. Reading through his other books (I have the lot) one sees only tantalising glimpses of the man behind the words: I had hoped this book might provide the personal information I had wanted. Sadly, I was disappointed.

Even sifting through what we get, there are some very disturbing glimpses into his childhood.

His mother (an obstetrician and professor of anatomy) would sometimes bring home malformed foetuses which had died at birth, or been drowned by her "like a kitten" shortly afterwards. These she encourages the (13-year old!) Sacks to dissect, and would teach him about anatomy all the while.

Later she arranges for him to dissect the body of a teenage girl at the local medical school under the supervision of "Professor G".

Sacks goes on holiday to the seaside with his family. He is given a large live octopus as a gift by a fisherman, and keeps it in the family bath, where he talks of how he feeds it live crabs and it changes colour because it seems to recognise him. The maid comes into the bathroom one day and kills the octopus with a broom handle in a panic. Sacks, of course, then dissects his beloved pet and keeps parts of it preserved in jars on his shelves for many years.

While it seems pretty clear that Sacks had a very precocious intellect, and was probably streets ahead of his peers in terms of intelligence, I find these incidents very disturbing.

The more I read Sacks, the more I think that perhaps there are unpleasant depths to his character that this book gives us only a hint of.

As a description of chemistry, this book is entertaining enough. As a glimpse into the life of Oliver Sacks, it is both inadequate and troubling.

Beautifully wrought evocation of melancholy - and hope, 28 Aug 2008
For such a short book, this packs quite a punch, particularly for someone with experience of depression. In this honest and powerful memoir, Styron recounts his descent from a mild sense of unease into a vortex of madness and suicide. His eloquent and accessible prose accurately depicts the workings of his mind and the gradual closing down of each facet of his physical and mental normality, until he is hospitalized on the verge of killing himself. Throughout his description of his own experience he also muses on literary friends' illness and suicides, the artistic tendency to madness, the mundanity of the word 'depression', the dangers of antidepressant drugs versus their merits, and the attitudes of others around him. Styron does not claim to be an expert on these issues but addresses them thoughtfully and fairly, making no pretence at speaking for every sufferer of this illness but instead encouraging understanding and compassion. In the end, the message is also one of hope - if you can survive the crisis point there is light at the end of the tunnel and normality and happiness will eventually return.

Short and to the point., 26 Apr 2008
There are definitely more in depth books on the market about this topic but I think this a good short insight into depression. 3.5 stars would be more apt but not quite 4 as I felt it needed to focus more on feelings and emotions than it did. However as the title is 'Darkness Visible' then it is right, the book looks at the visible tangible feelings he felt and also the visible signs/symptoms to those around him.

The book is about Styron's plummet into the world of depression and ultimately on to the brink of suicide. Whilst I haven't read any of this author's work (and in fact I might take a look at them now) I did find his account of his depression touching and insightful. I got the feeling he maybe only published this story because others thought it was a good idea, rather than making the decision himself - I may be wrong, but that was my impression from the introduction.



Brave, Accurate And Chilling, 21 Nov 2006
William Styron's "Darkness Visible" is a masterpiece of observation of the human spirits decline into depression (madness). Few authors have ever so deftly and succinctly described the feelings, fear or hopelessness that surrounds this disease. Stryon makes several references to other famous literary giants and constantly wonders if he too, is destined to defeat by this monster melancholia. Is this disease more prevalent among the artists or do they simply have the tools to portray the insidiousness of its wake? Stryon's allegories and sparse use of extremely descriptive verbiage come as close to describing the experience of depression as one could ever imagine. Noted for his great work, "Sophie's Choice", Stryon continues here with a piece of work that demands reading by anyone possessing a human spirit. It's a masterpiece.



An honest account - could go further..., 13 Aug 2003
Styron is not comfortable with exposing himself in this book - it is clear from the tone of the writing, and he even implies it by admitting he only decided to write it as a result of some lecture given on the topic of Depression, which brought on a mass of empathic and identifying letters.

Personally, I would've liked to know a bit more about the actual feelings and thoughts of a depressed man, rather than about his actions or life events as a result of depression. For that reason I much prefer 'Sunbathing in the Rain' by Gwyneth Lewis, which is a more internal look into the depressive experience.

Even so, this book might be helpful for people who are related to depressed people, because it might help them understand how it turns a person into a dysfunctional mush of raw nerves.

I suppose people must have been so excited about the book when it first came out, because it was written by such a well-known and respected novelist, and brought on wide recognition of a terrible desease, from which millions of people had to suffer secretly and shamefully in the past. I'm sure it helped many people decide to put everything on the table and get helped, and that in itself is a great achievement.

An interesting read - but I have read better books on this.., 07 Nov 2002
The book is fairly 'light' content-wise. It is interesting to read and does some justice to the suffering that depression imposes upon those who have experience clinical depression. As someone who has suffered such in the past for 3 years, I feel that this book does show the nightmare of this condition. However, it falls short for me and does not cover this kind of emotional experience in depth. A lost opportunity in my opinion... Susanna Saunders.

A very useful insight, 29 Sep 2008
This book gives a very interesting insight into how people can live with a bi-polar mind. The fact she is very successful and appears to cope with life might surprise some but then when you look below at some of the compulsions the reality of this illness shines through.

Yes the book is a bit over the place but that is how the mind works. This might help anyone who lives or knows anyone with this illness. It also gives a good insight into how difficult it is to medicate and why the patient might rebel from medication.

If you want an introduction to the world of someone whose mind doesn't tick quite the same as most people rather than or before getting medical books then please have a look at this one.

Absolutely fascinating, 27 Apr 2008
This memoir is compelling reading. I have found it to be frank and honest as well as informative. I had a friend, sadly no longer with us, who was manic depressive and I found reading this a way of understanding who he was.

Kay Jamison writes about her life from seventeen - when she had her first attack of manic depression - through to her life now as an adult over twenty years later. It is an extremely well written account and whilst it is factual and often distressing to read I actually enjoyed it. It shows not only her courage but her determination to succeed at life with an illness that almost killed her.

I couldn't actually put this book down and read it in the course of one day, over a series of sittings. This book must be of help for people who don't know how to deal with their own turmoil at the hands of this illness and likewise for those whose lives are affected by it. It doesn't have a text book feel about it but nor does it feel lightweight.

I can't recommend this book enough!

moving account of a talented woman's struggle, 13 Sep 2007
Moving account of a talented woman's struggle to work as a psychologist as well as living with bipolar. As someone with depression, I was moved by her account as well as identifying with her issues with the arrogance prevalent among a segment of the medical community. Highly recommended, laced with poetry; I was particularly moved by her epilogue @ the end where she states that if she had the choice, she would has chosen to be born with bipolar as when high or well, she appreciates the joys and beauties in life more than she would if not manic depressive.

An Unquiet Mind - Must Have for Bipolar Sufferers and those around them, 29 Aug 2007
You will not find any book other than this that explains what bipolar is all about. It is my bible. The book follows Kay's story and if you suffer with bipolar you can definitely relate to everything. This will also be helpful to those around you as it will help them gain a better understanding.

IF YOU SUFFER FROM BIPOLAR YOU WILL FIND THIS VERY HELPFUL

Thought provoking and moving, 22 May 2007
An excellent read, a remarkable account of a journey through manic-depressive illness. Anyone diagnosed with manic-depression or has an interest will find this a moving, eye opening and inspiring book. Kay Jamison's shares her honest heartfelt thoughts and feelings, a lady to be truly admired.

Wah Wah Wah., 18 Nov 2008
Oh boo hoo! Another misleading synopsis, i was expecting a colorful and detailed portrayal of a young girl's fight with depression, and all i get is this! - it's like listening to someone continuously sob their heart out, no matter what you say, except, wait, it's in a book! I was expecting a lot more, and for the first few paragraphs i was willing to give it a shot, hoping things would pick up, but i couldn't bare to read a novel about a whiney girl, writing a book and passing on the depression. Sheer boredom.

If you want to die, go ahead.

Boo Hoo I'm Depressed, 30 Sep 2008
I have never read such rubbish in my life!
Having just read Marya Hornbachers 'Madness', a true story of her struggle with BiPolar Disorder, I found Prozac Nation extremely boring.

There are only so many pages I can read about some little girl whinning over her parents breaking up, etc etc..

I found this book to be full to the top of self pity, and as a sufferer of depression who is also on Prozac, this book seems to not only glamourise the illness but read like it is a ticket to the alternative 'cool' life style.

Elizabeth Wurtzel seems never to grow up through out her years, the end of the book still reads like she is the same old spoilt 10 year old she was at the start.

And frankly, how she manages to remember all of this stuff happening in her life whilst she is on so much medication at such a 'terrible' time in her life, is quite surprising.

My opinion - read Marya Hornbacher.

Good, but too long, 13 Sep 2008
I felt that the story dragged on a bit too much, even though it is a good book to read. i wasnt really interested on how she got to that point, in fact i wanted to know exactly what happened at the age she started. She does go back to when she was younger, which makes the read slightly confusing at times.

YES! EXACTLY!!!, 19 Jun 2008
Several times as I was reading "Prozac Nation", I thought, "I want my parents, my friends, everybody to read this memoir!" It's on the spot! Completely!

Elizabeth Wurtzel manages an amazing feat. She describes her depression without dramatizing or romanticizing it. It's ugly, discouraging, and dark, but it's true and honest. "Prozac Nation" isn't a fun read or a memoir you plow through forgetting the details. "Prozac Nation" devours you.

"Prozac Nation" is Elizabeth's story of growing up with divorced parents, about being the kid in the middle of feuting parents, being the odd man out in school, and over time, suddenly, despressive. The majority of the story is when Elizabeth is at Harvard in the grounding mill of academia, treatment, the black wave, and life (and death).

One of the thing that I like about "Prozac Nation" is that it doesn't end. No "and she lived happily ever after. The end". The realization that you never truly recover depression is there. You can get better, you can turn your life around, but you never forget.

Louise.

Excellent, excellent, excellent, 23 Apr 2008
I was completly enveloped in this book, from start to finish.
It was beautifully written, emotional and thought provoking.
There were times, whilst reading this, that I felt a desperation for Elizabeth's situation, wanting to keep reading because i needed to know that she would be o.k, at least until the end of the chapter!
I enjoyed this book so much i quickly ordered the sequel 'More, Now Again'.
i just feel compelled to know where the story goes....


Oliver Sacks history of chemistry, disguised as a biography: disappointing. , 29 Jul 2008
After some years ago reading Sacks classic `The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat `I was keen to read something else. His biography seemed to be an intriguing option. Sadly I was very disappointed with this book. Although the title hints at an involvement with chemistry I did not expect the book to be almost entirely about chemistry and its history. I estimate that 95% of the book is concerned with this subject. There is little space given to detail of his actual life and absolutely no mention of psychology or neurology. Since this is of course the aspect of Sacks that attracts most people to his books this will be a complete surprise to most people. The detail of the history of chemistry is certainly too some extent interesting, but it becomes far too in-depth and specific. Unless you have an explicit interest in chemistry then this may well become somewhat tedious and boring, as it did for me. I finished the book feeling that I had learnt nothing new and gained little. Although the other reviews rate the book highly I can not help thinking that many people will ultimately be disappointed by this biography that is really anything but a biography. Had Sacks opted to scrap the small fraction of the book that relates to himself and his family and titled the book as a history of chemistry then it might be more appealing to an audience that might fully appreciate it.

The Metaphor of Chemistry, 02 Dec 2007
Dr. Sacks has written a number books beautifully crafted around the fascinating neurological lives of his patients. And to an extent in them we can glimpse the limitations of neurololgy in providing finer and finer observations but until recent years only more limited clinical help.But Oliver Sacks has always managed this with an apparent self effacing humanity.
In Uncle Tungsten he turns the magnifying glass on himself and we watch his own growth and development through the metaphor of the Periodic Table of the Elements.
His humanity shone through and when I came to the end,too soon, I was so engrossed that I was uncertain whether I had been reading his autobiography or my own.

Calling all scientists, 06 Jul 2006
I adored this book. I got it from my local library and am now buying my own copy. However, I would add that I read chemistry at college and was recommended it by another chemist. It is not a particularly difficult book, I want my 14-year-old to read it, but it is much more chemistry than biography.
It also made me think about what is missing now the practical element has been taken from the education system in the UK now; if you want to inspire a bright teenager this is the way to do it (I particularly like the passage about the 3lb lump of sodium and the local pond - I won't spoil it for non-chemists).
The biographical detail is interspersed with chemical passages and potted biographies of Sack's favourite chemists from the past. The thing that stood out the most though, was the sheer excitement of living through science as it was refined and discovered. There was no atom bomb when the book started, that came along the way. One of Sack's uncles had a scintillation gadget with a tiny amount of radioactive substance that emitted radiation you could see. There is an excitement and enthusiasm not found in many books now.
As well as being gripped by the science, its application and the history, I found it an extremely well written book. I want to read his neurological books as a result.

Thank heaven for puberty's hormonal rush, 27 Dec 2005
"... I wanted to lay hands on cobaltite and niccolite, and compounds or minerals of manganese and molybdenum, of uranium and chromium ... I wanted to pulverize them, treat them with acid, roast them, reduce them - whatever was necessary - so I could extract their metals myself."

In the life of a pre-pubescent boy, whatever happened to the simple pleasures of sports, chasing girls to pull their pigtails, or playing cowboys and Indians?

UNCLE TUNGSTEN is the childhood memoir of Oliver Sacks, who, as the son of two physicians in 1930s and 40s London, adopts more cerebral interests. Actually, let's call them obsessions, e.g., Mendeleev's Table of the Elements:

"I copied it into my exercise book and carried it everywhere ... I spent hours now, enchanted, totally absorbed, wandering, making discoveries, in the enchanted garden of Mendeleev."

Oliver's propensity for intellectual pursuits was further encouraged by his two maternal uncles, Dave and Abe, two scientist/business entrepreneurs, the former nicknamed UNCLE TUNGSTEN for his preoccupation with that element and his process for manufacturing tungsten light bulbs.

This engaging and instructive volume is the author's narrative of his life from age 6 to 15, beginning in 1939 at the beginning of WWII, when he was protectively sent out of London to a boarding school. Returning in 1943, he set up his own household lab and began experimenting with a vengeance, his chief interest being metals and their properties. The text is leavened with descriptions of his home life, his parents and brothers, and summaries of the achievements of giants in the field of Chemistry: John Dalton, Robert Boyle, the Curies, Antoine Lavoisier, Dmitri Mendeleev, Ernest Rutherford, Michael Faraday, and others. UNCLE TUNGSTEN is a short, popular history of the science.

I'm not awarding 5 stars because obsessions, especially someone else's, can become tiresome. Even Oliver's parents, responsible as any for his scientific curiosity, could be driven to distraction. At one point on a family auto trip, the young Sacks blathers on about one of his favorite elements for twenty minutes in the back seat until his father shouts, "Enough about thallium!"

By the age of 15, Oliver's preoccupation with chemistry began to ebb as the hormones of adolescence began to flow. The boy, becoming a young man, discovers music and sex. Those then around him should thank the Almighty for puberty; he was becoming an insufferable eccentric. He grew up to be a neurologist.

Not the book you expect, 28 Mar 2005
This is a childhood memoir from Oliver Sacks.

I've been an admirer of Sacks for years: it's clear from his books that he has a scintillating intelligence which he applies indiscriminately, not just to medicine, but art, music, literature, philosophy, and sciences of all kinds.

I bought this book (early Christmas present to myself) to gain more insight into the man.

Three quarters of the book is a history of the development of chemistry, which Sacks had a passion for as a boy (aided by two of his uncles especially). This is all very well, and is told in Sacks' very readable style, but it leaves me wanting more background to Sacks himself. Reading through his other books (I have the lot) one sees only tantalising glimpses of the man behind the words: I had hoped this book might provide the personal information I had wanted. Sadly, I was disappointed.

Even sifting through what we get, there are some very disturbing glimpses into his childhood.

His mother (an obstetrician and professor of anatomy) would sometimes bring home malformed foetuses which had died at birth, or been drowned by her "like a kitten" shortly afterwards. These she encourages the (13-year old!) Sacks to dissect, and would teach him about anatomy all the while.

Later she arranges for him to dissect the body of a teenage girl at the local medical school under the supervision of "Professor G".

Sacks goes on holiday to the seaside with his family. He is given a large live octopus as a gift by a fisherman, and keeps it in the family bath, where he talks of how he feeds it live crabs and it changes colour because it seems to recognise him. The maid comes into the bathroom one day and kills the octopus with a broom handle in a panic. Sacks, of course, then dissects his beloved pet and keeps parts of it preserved in jars on his shelves for many years.

While it seems pretty clear that Sacks had a very precocious intellect, and was probably streets ahead of his peers in terms of intelligence, I find these incidents very disturbing.

The more I read Sacks, the more I think that perhaps there are unpleasant depths to his character that this book gives us only a hint of.

As a description of chemistry, this book is entertaining enough. As a glimpse into the life of Oliver Sacks, it is both inadequate and troubling.

Beautifully wrought evocation of melancholy - and hope, 28 Aug 2008
For such a short book, this packs quite a punch, particularly for someone with experience of depression. In this honest and powerful memoir, Styron recounts his descent from a mild sense of unease into a vortex of madness and suicide. His eloquent and accessible prose accurately depicts the workings of his mind and the gradual closing down of each facet of his physical and mental normality, until he is hospitalized on the verge of killing himself. Throughout his description of his own experience he also muses on literary friends' illness and suicides, the artistic tendency to madness, the mundanity of the word 'depression', the dangers of antidepressant drugs versus their merits, and the attitudes of others around him. Styron does not claim to be an expert on these issues but addresses them thoughtfully and fairly, making no pretence at speaking for every sufferer of this illness but instead encouraging understanding and compassion. In the end, the message is also one of hope - if you can survive the crisis point there is light at the end of the tunnel and normality and happiness will eventually return.

Short and to the point., 26 Apr 2008
There are definitely more in depth books on the market about this topic but I think this a good short insight into depression. 3.5 stars would be more apt but not quite 4 as I felt it needed to focus more on feelings and emotions than it did. However as the title is 'Darkness Visible' then it is right, the book looks at the visible tangible feelings he felt and also the visible signs/symptoms to those around him.

The book is about Styron's plummet into the world of depression and ultimately on to the brink of suicide. Whilst I haven't read any of this author's work (and in fact I might take a look at them now) I did find his account of his depression touching and insightful. I got the feeling he maybe only published this story because others thought it was a good idea, rather than making the decision himself - I may be wrong, but that was my impression from the introduction.



Brave, Accurate And Chilling, 21 Nov 2006
William Styron's "Darkness Visible" is a masterpiece of observation of the human spirits decline into depression (madness). Few authors have ever so deftly and succinctly described the feelings, fear or hopelessness that surrounds this disease. Stryon makes several references to other famous literary giants and constantly wonders if he too, is destined to defeat by this monster melancholia. Is this disease more prevalent among the artists or do they simply have the tools to portray the insidiousness of its wake? Stryon's allegories and sparse use of extremely descriptive verbiage come as close to describing the experience of depression as one could ever imagine. Noted for his great work, "Sophie's Choice", Stryon continues here with a piece of work that demands reading by anyone possessing a human spirit. It's a masterpiece.



An honest account - could go further..., 13 Aug 2003
Styron is not comfortable with exposing himself in this book - it is clear from the tone of the writing, and he even implies it by admitting he only decided to write it as a result of some lecture given on the topic of Depression, which brought on a mass of empathic and identifying letters.

Personally, I would've liked to know a bit more about the actual feelings and thoughts of a depressed man, rather than about his actions or life events as a result of depression. For that reason I much prefer 'Sunbathing in the Rain' by Gwyneth Lewis, which is a more internal look into the depressive experience.

Even so, this book might be helpful for people who are related to depressed people, because it might help them understand how it turns a person into a dysfunctional mush of raw nerves.

I suppose people must have been so excited about the book when it first came out, because it was written by such a well-known and respected novelist, and brought on wide recognition of a terrible desease, from which millions of people had to suffer secretly and shamefully in the past. I'm sure it helped many people decide to put everything on the table and get helped, and that in itself is a great achievement.

An interesting read - but I have read better books on this.., 07 Nov 2002
The book is fairly 'light' content-wise. It is interesting to read and does some justice to the suffering that depression imposes upon those who have experience clinical depression. As someone who has suffered such in the past for 3 years, I feel that this book does show the nightmare of this condition. However, it falls short for me and does not cover this kind of emotional experience in depth. A lost opportunity in my opinion... Susanna Saunders.

Recovery is possible!, 17 Jul 2008
I've read many memoirs of mental illness in my life and I truly believe this one is the best. It's gripping, moving, well written, and a great source of hope and inspiration.

It must have taken an incredible amount of courage to write a book like this. Rachel doesn't shy away from showing the uglier sides of borderline personality disorder, and many reviewers have dismissed her as a "spoiled brat". However, I was impressed by her strength and determination in overcoming her problems, and her guts in sharing her story to help others.

One thing that struck me when I read the book was Rachel's financial situation. From previous reviews, and from the knowledge she had psychoanalysis three times a week, I had assumed she must be a very rich woman who could afford to see her therapist as often as she wanted. This turned out not to be the case at all. In order to pay for her therapy, Rachel had to accept handouts from family members who'd abused her, get into debt, and at one point make a deal with her psychiatrist where she cut back on sessions and he lowered his rates. I think it was this resolve to get the help she needed and pay for it however she could that allowed Rachel to recover, where many others would have given up.

I have just discussed Get Me Out of Here with a friend who has BPD, and who read the book herself a few years ago. She told me it was Rachel's memoir that encouraged her to get back into work, so that she would be able to afford to choose her treatment. She is now seeing a private therapist and well on the way to recovery.

I would recommend this book as a source of hope and insight to anyone who has BPD, and as a source of understanding to anyone who doesn't. Just be prepared to read it with an open mind.

Worth reading., 24 Jun 2008
Definitely one worth reading if you are a relative or have been diagnosed with BPD. An interesting account of one woman's journey through therapy, although I agree with a previous reviewer that it came across as being quite a speedy process. I did find it a bit American and schmultzy at times especially towards the end but maybe that's just my cynical side!

fellow BPD sufferer!, 08 May 2008
reading this book i was amazed how much of her life, feelings, thoughts, actions, pain etc reflected my own! It made me realise just how much BPD effects your life and made me realise things about myself that i wouldn't have thought about or noticed without reading this book! I would say its a MUST HAVEA READ for all bpd suffers or people want to try and understand the condition! I couldn't put it down!

from a BP, 26 Mar 2008
I am diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. I think it's important that people remember that each and every BP is different! Just because you have a diagnosis it doesn't mean your experiences or perception of the disorder will be the same - that said it's also true that some people are misdiagnosed - or often experience comorbidity - the presense of another illness such as depression, an anxiety disorder or an eating disorder (on top of BPD).

I found this book comforting in some ways. The author is very honest and writes in a genuine way, in a sense putting herself in a vulnerable place. I related very much to some of the events regarding hospital admission and outpatient psychotherapy. I think there are many things in the book that people aren't willing to talk about - some of the least socially accepted aspects of the disorder.

I would recommend this book to someone with BPD and anyone who has a real interest in the experience of what it's like to have the disorder, remembering it's only one person's experience - not all BP's are the same!

I gave it three stars :).

daunting, 02 Dec 2007
I found this book very unhelpful for all parties involved, people with borderline, and those who live with them, and love them. Rachel comes across as a total brat, someone who has 24 hour psychiatric care; to be honest this is not really realistic of living with this disorder. I know because I was diagnosed with borderline about six years ago after a very long time in and out of the mental health services. I am not a spoilt brat, simply someone who has to try and live life feeling every emotion enhanced by at least ten, this being sadness, happiness, anger, loneliness, hopelessness.... it's not about acting like a five year old, its being unable to be rational when things hurt so bad... I don't have a psychiatrist on call 24/7. It's nothing at all like that in real life.
The book doesn't in any way explain her behaviours of feelings, or how she recovers? (People don't simply recover; they learn to cope with years of help...)I find the whole book very misleading and urge anyone who is trying to understand the illness to look elsewhere for help/inspiration/information.
I don't think the book deserves more than a one star rating, and this is only because i can't give it a nil rating.

A very useful insight, 29 Sep 2008
This book gives a very interesting insight into how people can live with a bi-polar mind. The fact she is very successful and appears to cope with life might surprise some but then when you look below at some of the compulsions the reality of this illness shines through.

Yes the book is a bit over the place but that is how the mind works. This might help anyone who lives or knows anyone with this illness. It also gives a good insight into how difficult it is to medicate and why the patient might rebel from medication.

If you want an introduction to the world of someone whose mind doesn't tick quite the same as most people rather than or before getting medical books then please have a look at this one.

Absolutely fascinating, 27 Apr 2008
This memoir is compelling reading. I have found it to be frank and honest as well as informative. I had a friend, sadly no longer with us, who was manic depressive and I found reading this a way of understanding who he was.

Kay Jamison writes about her life from seventeen - when she had her first attack of manic depression - through to her life now as an adult over twenty years later. It is an extremely well written account and whilst it is factual and often distressing to read I actually enjoyed it. It shows not only her courage but her determination to succeed at life with an illness that almost killed her.

I couldn't actually put this book down and read it in the course of one day, over a series of sittings. This book must be of help for people who don't know how to deal with their own turmoil at the hands of this illness and likewise for those whose lives are affected by it. It doesn't have a text book feel about it but nor does it feel lightweight.

I can't recommend this book enough!

moving account of a talented woman's struggle, 13 Sep 2007
Moving account of a talented woman's struggle to work as a psychologist as well as living with bipolar. As someone with depression, I was moved by her account as well as identifying with her issues with the arrogance prevalent among a segment of the medical community. Highly recommended, laced with poetry; I was particularly moved by her epilogue @ the end where she states that if she had the choice, she would has chosen to be born with bipolar as when high or well, she appreciates the joys and beauties in life more than she would if not manic depressive.

An Unquiet Mind - Must Have for Bipolar Sufferers and those around them, 29 Aug 2007
You will not find any book other than this that explains what bipolar is all about. It is my bible. The book follows Kay's story and if you suffer with bipolar you can definitely relate to everything. This will also be helpful to those around you as it will help them gain a better understanding.

IF YOU SUFFER FROM BIPOLAR YOU WILL FIND THIS VERY HELPFUL

Thought provoking and moving, 22 May 2007
An excellent read, a remarkable account of a journey through manic-depressive illness. Anyone diagnosed with manic-depression or has an interest will find this a moving, eye opening and inspiring book. Kay Jamison's shares her honest heartfelt thoughts and feelings, a lady to be truly admired.

Wah Wah Wah., 18 Nov 2008
Oh boo hoo! Another misleading synopsis, i was expecting a colorful and detailed portrayal of a young girl's fight with depression, and all i get is this! - it's like listening to someone continuously sob their heart out, no matter what you say, except, wait, it's in a book! I was expecting a lot more, and for the first few paragraphs i was willing to give it a shot, hoping things would pick up, but i couldn't bare to read a novel about a whiney girl, writing a book and passing on the depression. Sheer boredom.

If you want to die, go ahead.

Boo Hoo I'm Depressed, 30 Sep 2008
I have never read such rubbish in my life!
Having just read Marya Hornbachers 'Madness', a true story of her struggle with BiPolar Disorder, I found Prozac Nation extremely boring.

There are only so many pages I can read about some little girl whinning over her parents breaking up, etc etc..

I found this book to be full to the top of self pity, and as a sufferer of depression who is also on Prozac, this book seems to not only glamourise the illness but read like it is a ticket to the alternative 'cool' life style.

Elizabeth Wurtzel seems never to grow up through out her years, the end of the book still reads like she is the same old spoilt 10 year old she was at the start.

And frankly, how she manages to remember all of this stuff happening in her life whilst she is on so much medication at such a 'terrible' time in her life, is quite surprising.

My opinion - read Marya Hornbacher.

Good, but too long, 13 Sep 2008
I felt that the story dragged on a bit too much, even though it is a good book to read. i wasnt really interested on how she got to that point, in fact i wanted to know exactly what happened at the age she started. She does go back to when she was younger, which makes the read slightly confusing at times.

YES! EXACTLY!!!, 19 Jun 2008
Several times as I was reading "Prozac Nation", I thought, "I want my parents, my friends, everybody to read this memoir!" It's on the spot! Completely!

Elizabeth Wurtzel manages an amazing feat. She describes her depression without dramatizing or romanticizing it. It's ugly, discouraging, and dark, but it's true and honest. "Prozac Nation" isn't a fun read or a memoir you plow through forgetting the details. "Prozac Nation" devours you.

"Prozac Nation" is Elizabeth's story of growing up with divorced parents, about being the kid in the middle of feuting parents, being the odd man out in school, and over time, suddenly, despressive. The majority of the story is when Elizabeth is at Harvard in the grounding mill of academia, treatment, the black wave, and life (and death).

One of the thing that I like about "Prozac Nation" is that it doesn't end. No "and she lived happily ever after. The end". The realization that you never truly recover depression is there. You can get better, you can turn your life around, but you never forget.

Louise.

Excellent, excellent, excellent, 23 Apr 2008
I was completly enveloped in this book, from start to finish.
It was beautifully written, emotional and thought provoking.
There were times, whilst reading this, that I felt a desperation for Elizabeth's situation, wanting to keep reading because i needed to know that she would be o.k, at least until the end of the chapter!
I enjoyed this book so much i quickly ordered the sequel 'More, Now Again'.
i just feel compelled to know where the story goes....


Oliver Sacks history of chemistry, disguised as a biography: disappointing. , 29 Jul 2008
After some years ago reading Sacks classic `The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat `I was keen to read something else. His biography seemed to be an intriguing option. Sadly I was very disappointed with this book. Although the title hints at an involvement with chemistry I did not expect the book to be almost entirely about chemistry and its history. I estimate that 95% of the book is concerned with this subject. There is little space given to detail of his actual life and absolutely no mention of psychology or neurology. Since this is of course the aspect of Sacks that attracts most people to his books this will be a complete surprise to most people. The detail of the history of chemistry is certainly too some extent interesting, but it becomes far too in-depth and specific. Unless you have an explicit interest in chemistry then this may well become somewhat tedious and boring, as it did for me. I finished the book feeling that I had learnt nothing new and gained little. Although the other reviews rate the book highly I can not help thinking that many people will ultimately be disappointed by this biography that is really anything but a biography. Had Sacks opted to scrap the small fraction of the book that relates to himself and his family and titled the book as a history of chemistry then it might be more appealing to an audience that might fully appreciate it.

The Metaphor of Chemistry, 02 Dec 2007
Dr. Sacks has written a number books beautifully crafted around the fascinating neurological lives of his patients. And to an extent in them we can glimpse the limitations of neurololgy in providing finer and finer observations but until recent years only more limited clinical help.But Oliver Sacks has always managed this with an apparent self effacing humanity.
In Uncle Tungsten he turns the magnifying glass on himself and we watch his own growth and development through the metaphor of the Periodic Table of the Elements.
His humanity shone through and when I came to the end,too soon, I was so engrossed that I was uncertain whether I had been reading his autobiography or my own.

Calling all scientists, 06 Jul 2006
I adored this book. I got it from my local library and am now buying my own copy. However, I would add that I read chemistry at college and was recommended it by another chemist. It is not a particularly difficult book, I want my 14-year-old to read it, but it is much more chemistry than biography.
It also made me think about what is missing now the practical element has been taken from the education system in the UK now; if you want to inspire a bright teenager this is the way to do it (I particularly like the passage about the 3lb lump of sodium and the local pond - I won't spoil it for non-chemists).
The biographical detail is interspersed with chemical passages and potted biographies of Sack's favourite chemists from the past. The thing that stood out the most though, was the sheer excitement of living through science as it was refined and discovered. There was no atom bomb when the book started, that came along the way. One of Sack's uncles had a scintillation gadget with a tiny amount of radioactive substance that emitted radiation you could see. There is an excitement and enthusiasm not found in many books now.
As well as being gripped by the science, its application and the history, I found it an extremely well written book. I want to read his neurological books as a result.

Thank heaven for puberty's hormonal rush, 27 Dec 2005
"... I wanted to lay hands on cobaltite and niccolite, and compounds or minerals of manganese and molybdenum, of uranium and chromium ... I wanted to pulverize them, treat them with acid, roast them, reduce them - whatever was necessary - so I could extract their metals myself."

In the life of a pre-pubescent boy, whatever happened to the simple pleasures of sports, chasing girls to pull their pigtails, or playing cowboys and Indians?

UNCLE TUNGSTEN is the childhood memoir of Oliver Sacks, who, as the son of two physicians in 1930s and 40s London, adopts more cerebral interests. Actually, let's call them obsessions, e.g., Mendeleev's Table of the Elements:

"I copied it into my exercise book and carried it everywhere ... I spent hours now, enchanted, totally absorbed, wandering, making discoveries, in the enchanted garden of Mendeleev."

Oliver's propensity for intellectual pursuits was further encouraged by his two maternal uncles, Dave and Abe, two scientist/business entrepreneurs, the former nicknamed UNCLE TUNGSTEN for his preoccupation with that element and his process for manufacturing tungsten light bulbs.

This engaging and instructive volume is the author's narrative of his life from age 6 to 15, beginning in 1939 at the beginning of WWII, when he was protectively sent out of London to a boarding school. Returning in 1943, he set up his own household lab and began experimenting with a vengeance, his chief interest being metals and their properties. The text is leavened with descriptions of his home life, his parents and brothers, and summaries of the achievements of giants in the field of Chemistry: John Dalton, Robert Boyle, the Curies, Antoine Lavoisier, Dmitri Mendeleev, Ernest Rutherford, Michael Faraday, and others. UNCLE TUNGSTEN is a short, popular history of the science.

I'm not awarding 5 stars because obsessions, especially someone else's, can become tiresome. Even Oliver's parents, responsible as any for his scientific curiosity, could be driven to distraction. At one point on a family auto trip, the young Sacks blathers on about one of his favorite elements for twenty minutes in the back seat until his father shouts, "Enough about thallium!"

By the age of 15, Oliver's preoccupation with chemistry began to ebb as the hormones of adolescence began to flow. The boy, becoming a young man, discovers music and sex. Those then around him should thank the Almighty for puberty; he was becoming an insufferable eccentric. He grew up to be a neurologist.

Not the book you expect, 28 Mar 2005
This is a childhood memoir from Oliver Sacks.

I've been an admirer of Sacks for years: it's clear from his books that he has a scintillating intelligence which he applies indiscriminately, not just to medicine, but art, music, literature, philosophy, and sciences of all kinds.

I bought this book (early Christmas present to myself) to gain more insight into the man.

Three quarters of the book is a history of the development of chemistry, which Sacks had a passion for as a boy (aided by two of his uncles especially). This is all very well, and is told in Sacks' very readable style, but it leaves me wanting more background to Sacks himself. Reading through his other books (I have the lot) one sees only tantalising glimpses of the man behind the words: I had hoped this book might provide the personal information I had wanted. Sadly, I was disappointed.

Even sifting through what we get, there are some very disturbing glimpses into his childhood.

His mother (an obstetrician and professor of anatomy) would sometimes bring home malformed foetuses which had died at birth, or been drowned by her "like a kitten" shortly afterwards. These she encourages the (13-year old!) Sacks to dissect, and would teach him about anatomy all the while.

Later she arranges for him to dissect the body of a teenage girl at the local medical school under the supervision of "Professor G".

Sacks goes on holiday to the seaside with his family. He is given a large live octopus as a gift by a fisherman, and keeps it in the family bath, where he talks of how he feeds it live crabs and it changes colour because it seems to recognise him. The maid comes into the bathroom one day and kills the octopus with a broom handle in a panic. Sacks, of course, then dissects his beloved pet and keeps parts of it preserved in jars on his shelves for many years.

While it seems pretty clear that Sacks had a very precocious intellect, and was probably streets ahead of his peers in terms of intelligence, I find these incidents very disturbing.

The more I read Sacks, the more I think that perhaps there are unpleasant depths to his character that this book gives us only a hint of.

As a description of chemistry, this book is entertaining enough. As a glimpse into the life of Oliver Sacks, it is both inadequate and troubling.

Beautifully wrought evocation of melancholy - and hope, 28 Aug 2008
For such a short book, this packs quite a punch, particularly for someone with experience of depression. In this honest and powerful memoir, Styron recounts his descent from a mild sense of unease into a vortex of madness and suicide. His eloquent and accessible prose accurately depicts the workings of his mind and the gradual closing down of each facet of his physical and mental normality, until he is hospitalized on the verge of killing himself. Throughout his description of his own experience he also muses on literary friends' illness and suicides, the artistic tendency to madness, the mundanity of the word 'depression', the dangers of antidepressant drugs versus their merits, and the attitudes of others around him. Styron does not claim to be an expert on these issues but addresses them thoughtfully and fairly, making no pretence at speaking for every sufferer of this illness but instead encouraging understanding and compassion. In the end, the message is also one of hope - if you can survive the crisis point there is light at the end of the tunnel and normality and happiness will eventually return.

Short and to the point., 26 Apr 2008
There are definitely more in depth books on the market about this topic but I think this a good short insight into depression. 3.5 stars would be more apt but not quite 4 as I felt it needed to focus more on feelings and emotions than it did. However as the title is 'Darkness Visible' then it is right, the book looks at the visible tangible feelings he felt and also the visible signs/symptoms to those around him.

The book is about Styron's plummet into the world of depression and ultimately on to the brink of suicide. Whilst I haven't read any of this author's work (and in fact I might take a look at them now) I did find his account of his depression touching and insightful. I got the feeling he maybe only published this story because others thought it was a good idea, rather than making the decision himself - I may be wrong, but that was my impression from the introduction.



Brave, Accurate And Chilling, 21 Nov 2006
William Styron's "Darkness Visible" is a masterpiece of observation of the human spirits decline into depression (madness). Few authors have ever so deftly and succinctly described the feelings, fear or hopelessness that surrounds this disease. Stryon makes several references to other famous literary giants and constantly wonders if he too, is destined to defeat by this monster melancholia. Is this disease more prevalent among the artists or do they simply have the tools to portray the insidiousness of its wake? Stryon's allegories and sparse use of extremely descriptive verbiage come as close to describing the experience of depression as one could ever imagine. Noted for his great work, "Sophie's Choice", Stryon continues here with a piece of work that demands reading by anyone possessing a human spirit. It's a masterpiece.



An honest account - could go further..., 13 Aug 2003
Styron is not comfortable with exposing himself in this book - it is clear from the tone of the writing, and he even implies it by admitting he only decided to write it as a result of some lecture given on the topic of Depression, which brought on a mass of empathic and identifying letters.

Personally, I would've liked to know a bit more about the actual feelings and thoughts of a depressed man, rather than about his actions or life events as a result of depression. For that reason I much prefer 'Sunbathing in the Rain' by Gwyneth Lewis, which is a more internal look into the depressive experience.

Even so, this book might be helpful for people who are related to depressed people, because it might help them understand how it turns a person into a dysfunctional mush of raw nerves.

I suppose people must have been so excited about the book when it first came out, because it was written by such a well-known and respected novelist, and brought on wide recognition of a terrible desease, from which millions of people had to suffer secretly and shamefully in the past. I'm sure it helped many people decide to put everything on the table and get helped, and that in itself is a great achievement.

An interesting read - but I have read better books on this.., 07 Nov 2002
The book is fairly 'light' content-wise. It is interesting to read and does some justice to the suffering that depression imposes upon those who have experience clinical depression. As someone who has suffered such in the past for 3 years, I feel that this book does show the nightmare of this condition. However, it falls short for me and does not cover this kind of emotional experience in depth. A lost opportunity in my opinion... Susanna Saunders.

Recovery is possible!, 17 Jul 2008
I've read many memoirs of mental illness in my life and I truly believe this one is the best. It's gripping, moving, well written, and a great source of hope and inspiration.

It must have taken an incredible amount of courage to write a book like this. Rachel doesn't shy away from showing the uglier sides of borderline personality disorder, and many reviewers have dismissed her as a "spoiled brat". However, I was impressed by her strength and determination in overcoming her problems, and her guts in sharing her story to help others.

One thing that struck me when I read the book was Rachel's financial situation. From previous reviews, and from the knowledge she had psychoanalysis three times a week, I had assumed she must be a very rich woman who could afford to see her therapist as often as she wanted. This turned out not to be the case at all. In order to pay for her therapy, Rachel had to accept handouts from family members who'd abused her, get into debt, and at one point make a deal with her psychiatrist where she cut back on sessions and he lowered his rates. I think it was this resolve to get the help she needed and pay for it however she could that allowed Rachel to recover, where many others would have given up.

I have just discussed Get Me Out of Here with a friend who has BPD, and who read the book herself a few years ago. She told me it was Rachel's memoir that encouraged her to get back into work, so that she would be able to afford to choose her treatment. She is now seeing a private therapist and well on the way to recovery.

I would recommend this book as a source of hope and insight to anyone who has BPD, and as a source of understanding to anyone who doesn't. Just be prepared to read it with an open mind.

Worth reading., 24 Jun 2008
Definitely one worth reading if you are a relative or have been diagnosed with BPD. An interesting account of one woman's journey through therapy, although I agree with a previous reviewer that it came across as being quite a speedy process. I did find it a bit American and schmultzy at times especially towards the end but maybe that's just my cynical side!

fellow BPD sufferer!, 08 May 2008
reading this book i was amazed how much of her life, feelings, thoughts, actions, pain etc reflected my own! It made me realise just how much BPD effects your life and made me realise things about myself that i wouldn't have thought about or noticed without reading this book! I would say its a MUST HAVEA READ for all bpd suffers or people want to try and understand the condition! I couldn't put it down!

from a BP, 26 Mar 2008
I am diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. I think it's important that people remember that each and every BP is different! Just because you have a diagnosis it doesn't mean your experiences or perception of the disorder will be the same - that said it's also true that some people are misdiagnosed - or often experience comorbidity - the presense of another illness such as depression, an anxiety disorder or an eating disorder (on top of BPD).

I found this book comforting in some ways. The author is very honest and writes in a genuine way, in a sense putting herself in a vulnerable place. I related very much to some of the events regarding hospital admission and outpatient psychotherapy. I think there are many things in the book that people aren't willing to talk about - some of the least socially accepted aspects of the disorder.

I would recommend this book to someone with BPD and anyone who has a real interest in the experience of what it's like to have the disorder, remembering it's only one person's experience - not all BP's are the same!

I gave it three stars :).

daunting, 02 Dec 2007
I found this book very unhelpful for all parties involved, people with borderline, and those who live with them, and love them. Rachel comes across as a total brat, someone who has 24 hour psychiatric care; to be honest this is not really realistic of living with this disorder. I know because I was diagnosed with borderline about six years ago after a very long time in and out of the mental health services. I am not a spoilt brat, simply someone who has to try and live life feeling every emotion enhanced by at least ten, this being sadness, happiness, anger, loneliness, hopelessness.... it's not about acting like a five year old, its being unable to be rational when things hurt so bad... I don't have a psychiatrist on call 24/7. It's nothing at all like that in real life.
The book doesn't in any way explain her behaviours of feelings, or how she recovers? (People don't simply recover; they learn to cope with years of help...)I find the whole book very misleading and urge anyone who is trying to understand the illness to look elsewhere for help/inspiration/information.
I don't think the book deserves more than a one star rating, and this is only because i can't give it a nil rating.


a powerful read, 05 May 2007
A wonderful book that i will read many times, i laughed and cried and highlighted sentences my way through the book. Having a son that has schizophrenia made it a lesson in understanding mental illness and gave me a grain of hope. An excellent worth while read

Should be on all school reading lists!, 03 Jan 2007
A very moving book, with some witty moments. Written in a very accessible and easy to read style.

It provides an insight into the world of schizophrenia and how terrifying it must be; how bewildering that world is; the effects of the medication on Lori, amongst others, the dreadful weight gain and how this also affects her self-esteem.

I also thought the parts written by her family and friends also touching. How they felt and how they coped, but also you wonder what was not said as was too painful.

I would recommend it to all, not just those who have lived experience or mental health professionals and students, but everybody. It should be compulsory reading for all to help us begin to understand.

journey into her world of madness, 27 Nov 2006
I didn't want to finish this book as i enjoyed reading it, it took me on a roller-coaster of feelings, as Lori roller-coastered in her life.
It made me cry as i felt the struggle she had to survive. A revealing account of her inner world.

Wonderful, 29 Apr 2005
This was one of my favorite books of all time. Th