or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
Express Checkout with PayPhrase
What's this? | Create PayPhrase
Sorry!
More Buying Choices
271 used & new from $0.01

Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness
 
 
Tell the Publisher!
I’d like to read this book on Kindle

Don’t have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here.
 
  

Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness (Paperback)

~ (Author) "IN PARIS ON A CHILLY EVENING LATE IN OCTOBER OF 1985 I first became fully aware that the struggle with the disorder in my mind-a..." (more)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (155 customer reviews)

List Price: $11.95
Price: $8.60 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $3.35 (28%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Want it delivered Thursday, November 12? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
57 new from $4.70 202 used from $0.01 12 collectible from $7.95

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
  Hardcover $10.85 $9.08 $9.07
  Paperback $8.60 $4.70 $0.01

Best Value

Buy Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness and get Havanas in Camelot: Personal Essays at an additional 5% off Amazon.com's everyday low price.

Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness + Havanas in Camelot: Personal Essays
Buy Together Today: $24.99

One of these items ships sooner than the other. Show details

  • This item: Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

  • Havanas in Camelot: Personal Essays

    Temporarily out of stock.
    Order now and we'll deliver when available. We'll e-mail you with an estimated delivery date as soon as we have more information. Your account will only be charged when we ship the item.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details


Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Unholy Ghost: Writers on Depression

Unholy Ghost: Writers on Depression

by Nell Casey
4.1 out of 5 stars (30)  $12.59
The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression

The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression

by Andrew Solomon
4.2 out of 5 stars (122)  $12.96
Lie Down in Darkness

Lie Down in Darkness

by William Styron
4.1 out of 5 stars (21)  $10.17
An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness

An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness

by Kay Redfield Jamison
4.3 out of 5 stars (352)  $10.17
The Creating Brain: The Neuroscience of Genius

The Creating Brain: The Neuroscience of Genius

by Nancy C. Andreasen
3.1 out of 5 stars (10)  $16.46
Explore similar items

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In 1985 William Styron fell victim to a crippling and almost suicidal depression, the same illness that took the lives of Randall Jarrell, Primo Levi and Virginia Woolf. That Styron survived his descent into madness is something of a miracle. That he manages to convey its tortuous progression and his eventual recovery with such candor and precision makes Darkness Visible a rare feat of literature, a book that will arouse a shock of recognition even in those readers who have been spared the suffering it describes.


From Publishers Weekly

A meditation on Styron's ( Sophie's Choice ) serious depression at the age of 60, this essay evokes with detachment and dignity the months-long turmoil whose symptoms included the novelist's "dank joylessness," insomnia, physical aversion to alcohol (previously "an invaluable senior partner of my intellect") and his persistent "fantasies of self-destruction" leading to psychiatric treatment and hospitalization. The book's virtues--considerable--are twofold. First, it is a pitiless and chastened record of a nearly fatal human trial far commoner than assumed--and then a literary discourse on the ways and means of our cultural discontents, observed in the figures of poet Randall Jarrell, activist Abbie Hoffman, writer Albert Camus and others. Written by one whose book-learning proves a match for his misery, the memoir travels fastidiously over perilous ground, receiving intimations of mortality and reckoning delicately with them. Always clarifying his demons, never succumbing to them in his prose, Styron's neat, tight narrative carries the bemusement of the worldly wise suddenly set off-course--and the hard-won wisdom therein. In abridged form, the essay first appeared in Vanity Fair.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details


More About the Author

William Styron
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Visit Amazon's William Styron Page

Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
IN PARIS ON A CHILLY EVENING LATE IN OCTOBER OF 1985 I first became fully aware that the struggle with the disorder in my mind-a struggle which had engaged me for several months-might have a fatal outcome. Read the first page
New!
Concordance | Text Stats
Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:


What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?


Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(14)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

 

Customer Reviews

155 Reviews
5 star:
 (89)
4 star:
 (41)
3 star:
 (10)
2 star:
 (6)
1 star:
 (9)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (155 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
139 of 148 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Short and sweet, August 10, 1998
By A Customer
My one-line summary is a cliche, of course, but entirely appropriate; after all, if fatigue is but one of depression's many demons, what person suffering from this affliction is going to have the energy to read a lot? (Darkness Visible is, fortunately, about eighty pages long. I think it's great fortune that the book is short.)

I think it's important that this book was written by an author of the same stature as famous writers who did take their lives. The difference is that Styron came out on the other side of this malady, saw it for what it was. At times he makes remarkable observations on depression, worthy of a clinician in a psychiatric hospital; for example, when he writes sentences such as, The physical symptoms of this affliction trick the mind into thinking that the situation is beyond hope.

As with many, Styron's physical predisposition to depression (a), led to (b) feelings of despair, hopelessness, and suicidal thoughts, which further fed the symptoms and perpetuated the disease.

This literary work helps dispel the idea that depression is "fashionable" and that suicide among the literati is "cool."

His "no holds barred" discussion honors those who fight this affliction.

(By the way, the title is from John Milton's epic "Paradise Lost," "darkness visible" is one of many ways Milton described the Hell into which Satan and his demons were tossed.)

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
44 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars 4 Stars, March 1, 2000
When this book was recomended to me by a friend and fellow depression sufferer, I was skeptical. Depression is not easy to describe, even to my psychiatrist. As I started to read, though, I realized that not only had Mr. Styron managed to share his experience of the nebulous monster that is depression, but he was able to lead me to a greater understanding of my own struggles with it. I passed the book along to a friend who had stood by me in the long nights but had never experienced the illness first hand. His impression was very different from mine, in part because he read it as a reference, but more so because he could not personally relate. Perhaps the greatest lesson this book delivers, then, is that understanding depression may only be possible (if it is possible at all) by those who have experienced it. If you suffer from depression, this book may help to remind you that you are not alone. If you don't, it may only enable you to further understand (though not completely) the disruptive, pervasive nature of the disease.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
75 of 80 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A compelling story of depression and recovery, May 25, 2002
"Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness" is an autobiographical work in which distinguished novelist William Styron recalls his battle with clinical depression. A lean 84 pages, this is a straightforward and eloquent book.

In an author's note, Styron explains that this book started out as a lecture given at a symposium sponsored by the Department of Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The lecture was developed into a "Vanity Fair" essay before ultimately becoming this book.

Styron describes depression as "an insidious meltdown" of the mind, a "tempest in my brain." He reflects on the depression and suicide of other individuals whose lives had touched his. He describes in detail his own struggle with suicidal thoughts. Also covered are the medications he took, as well as his hospitalization and therapy.

Styron's book is both a fine piece of literature and a very informative window into a particular mental illness. Styron has been in the pit of despair, but has survived; I commend him for his courage and candor in sharing his experience in "Darkness Visible." Recommended companion text: Audre Lorde's "The Cancer Journals," about a poet's battle with breast cancer.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars stark, pragmatic, informed, feeling, hopeful
"Darkness Visible" is an 85 page essay about Mr. Styron's experience with depression, a condition that nearly killed him, as it has so many writers and artists and others. Read more
Published 25 days ago by Abeer Y. Hoque

5.0 out of 5 stars Invaluable!
I recommend that anybody with major depression should read this. I felt such relief reading a description of exactly how I feel and knowing that I am not alone in my depression... Read more
Published 2 months ago by H. A. Forder

3.0 out of 5 stars A Decent Read by a Talented Author
Darkness Visible is William Styron's account of his descent into a terrible depression. He begins the narrative with a bang, letting the reader know that his condition could have... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Faraz Khan

5.0 out of 5 stars Darkness Visible
A very intimate account of a depressive episode and survival of it. Styron portrayed a human condition that is often difficult to put into words. Read more
Published 6 months ago by E. Ehrhardt

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Condition
This book came as it was stated by the seller and it came in a timely manner.
Published 6 months ago by Tricia Ann Fitzgerald

5.0 out of 5 stars deeply moving
Was recommended to me by a friend. The book recounts William Styron's bout with mental illness. It is a very good book to help people relate to what a troubled person is going... Read more
Published 6 months ago by K. Phippin

4.0 out of 5 stars When Others Get Roses But You Keep Getting Thorns
William Styron has written a very good personal experience piece of just what it feels like to descend into the depths of and crawl out of clinical depression. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Richard DiCanio

5.0 out of 5 stars A Courageous Memoir About Battling Depression
William Styron is a great writer. Most readers and movie-goers are familiar with his book 'Sophie's Choice'. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Bonnie Brody

4.0 out of 5 stars A solid book on what depression is like for some of us.
Having battled depression/anxiety for the last few years, this book automatically struck a chord with me before I received it in the mail. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Travis Stein

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT BOOK, CAN BE READ IN ONE OR TWO SITTINGS
Darkness Visible is about eighty pages long. It's a great short book ...I particularly like the section where he recounts an incident where a `therapist' reduces a woman to tears... Read more
Published 9 months ago by K. Gleason

Only search this product's reviews



Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   


Listmania!


Create a Listmania! list

So You'd Like to...


Create a guide

Product Information from the Amapedia Community

Beta (What's this?)


Look for Similar Items by Category


Look for Similar Items by Subject

 

Feedback

If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.
 Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
Is there any other feedback you would like to provide?

Your comments can help make our site better for everyone.


Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.