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Girl, Interrupted

3.9(139)
HardcoverPaperback€13.00E-Book
Language
English
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About the book

30th ANNIVERSARY EDITION • NATIONAL BESTSELLER • In 1967, after a session with a psychiatrist she'd never seen before, eighteen-year-old Susanna Kaysen was put in a taxi and sent to McLean Hospital. Her memoir of the next two years is a "poignant, honest ... triumphantly funny ... and heartbreaking story" (The New York Times Book Review).

WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY THE AUTHOR

The ward for teenage girls in the McLean psychiatric hospital was as renowned for its famous clientele—Sylvia Plath, Robert Lowell, James Taylor, and Ray Charles—as for its progressive methods of treating those who could afford its sanctuary. Kaysen's memoir encompasses horror and razor-edged perception while providing vivid portraits of her fellow patients and their keepers. It is a brilliant evocation of a "parallel universe" set within the kaleidoscopically shifting landscape of the late sixties.

Girl, Interrupted is a clear-sighted, unflinching document that gives lasting and specific dimension to our definitions of sane and insane, mental illness and recovery.

Editions (5)

ISBN9780679746041
PublisherRandom House LLC US
Publication Date04/19/94
Pages192

Reviews & Ratings

139 ratings

16 reviews

3.9

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  • berghutzenhexe
    berghutzenhexe

    12 Followers

    4.0

    Anders und besonders. Am Ende gibt es noch ein kleines Kapitel speziell zur BPS. Sehr interessant. Mir war auch nicht bewusst, dass es eine „wahre Geschichte“ ist. Empfehlung!

    Jun 3, 2024

  • emilygodoyyy
    emilygodoyyy

    21 Followers

    5.0

    This book is a memoir about Susana Kayson’s experience when she was 18 and voluntarily committed herself in a psychiatric hospital.

    Ive read this book before and decided to reread it and annotate it. It is by far one of my favorite books and the movie was also sooo goooddd. I loved how well the book was written. It’s sarcastic, funny, and real. It fully describes how a young person is dealing with a mental illness while being confused about it and trying to fully understand it. I loved all the characters in the book. It was an easy read and I finished in two days. The book describes the stigma around mental health in the 60’s and how hard it was for her and others around her that there was something wrong with her. It’s a classic must read book will always give it a 5/5 rating. Also, the way she got the name for the book was just the cherry on top. Favorite quotes from the book: “I told her once I wasn’t good at anything. She told me survival is a talent” “Sometimes the only way to stay sane is to go a little crazy.” “Was insanity just a matter of dropping the act?” “Every window in Alcatraz has a view of San Francisco.” “Emptiness and boredom: what an understatement. What I felt was complete desolation. Desolation, despair, and depression. Isn't there some other way to look at this? After all, angst of these dimensions is a luxury item. You need to be well fed, clothes, and housed to have time for this much self-pity.” “In a strange way we were free. We'd reached the end of the line. We had nothing more to lose. Our privacy, our liberty, our dignity: all of this was gone and we were stripped down to the bare bones of our selves.”

    This book is a memoir about Susana Kayson’s experience when she was 18 and voluntarily committed herself in a psychiatric hospital.

    Feb 21, 2025

3 of 16 reviews

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