Noonday Demon [Paperback]

Andrew Solomon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 4, 2002

This work digs deep and painfully into personal experience of depression and mental illness, while also considering the wider picture: the historical, social, biological, pharmaceutical and medical aspects and implications of the disease. Having experienced what he is writing about firsthand, Solomon describes the experience from the inside. He has also researched every aspect of depression, including: the historical treatment and study of "melancholy" as far back as the Greeks and Romans (who believed that cauliflower was good for depression), and through to the side effects of the pharmaceutical cocktails of the present day; case histories of people in out of mental hospitals; faith healers; the power of suggestion; and the implications for the future of Western society.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Cambridge-educated UK/US national in his thirties, writes for The New Yorker and other US media. He has suffered from bouts of suicidal depression. Lives in New York, and sometimes London. Author of one novel.

Product Details

• Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: Random House; OVERWEIGHT edition (April 4, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0099277131
• ISBN-13: 978-0099277132
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 1.5 x 7.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,147,439 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Noonday Demon An Anatomy (Atlas) of Depression, November 10, 2007

By 

Laurie_G (Myrtle Beach, SC) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Noonday Demon (Paperback)

Originally released in UK as NoonDay Demon Anatomy of Depression re-released as the Atlas of Depression Amazon.co.uk Review

"Breakdowns are preposterous" writes Andrew Solomon in his wide-ranging and illuminating study, The Noonday Demon: An Anatomy of Depression. With the current vogue for self-help books, medication doled out at the drop of a hat, and therapy-speak, it would seem that depression is a modern phenomenon, a reaction to the stresses of a consumerist, high-achieving world. Yet as Solomon explains, the word " depression" was "first used in English to describe low spirits in 1660"; prior to this time, the vagaries of the unquiet mind were termed "melancholia". Bravely cataloguing his own series of depressive episodes, Solomon attempts to go to the roots of the illness--for an illness it is, and has to be treated as such--by interviewing fellow sufferers, delving back into history ("the history of depression in the West is closely tied to the history of Western thought")--analysing suicide, addictions, treatments, and depression's underlying causes, from politics to poverty. At the heart of this informed, compassionate book lies Solomon's own story--an established writer with seemingly everything going for him, he succumbed to a series of breakdowns in his 31st year, and eventually rallied with the support of his father, other family members and friends, a good therapist and a shopping list of medications, which he still takes daily. Out of his depression emerged qualities of self he never knew existed, and a desire to "find and cling to the reasons for living". Solomon's dark night of the soul, on a par with Lewis Wolpert's Malignant Sadness is a significant and important chronicle. Between 10 and 15 per cent of Americans and up to 6 million people in the UK experience depression; books like The Noonday Demon might just broaden our understanding of it. --Catherine Taylor --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. The Noonday Demon

1 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't pity me., July 15, 2009

By 

Ronald L. Saberton "rsaberton" (SW Florida) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Noonday Demon (Paperback)

An amazing and well researched manual for all of us without spines, backbones or character. Like a lot of frailties, must one one share the same malady to understand or is it all just a conspiracy of liberals?

Andrew Solomon: how did you get out of bed long enough to do all the research and writing? I am suspicious of your depression credentials but you write so clearly, accurately and descriptively of the experience that I just have to admire your courage. Thank you for me though it would be helpful if the zillion other experts would read and be grateful as well.