Book
Out of her mind : women writing on madness
Record details
- ISBN: 9780679603306
- ISBN: 0375755020 (pbk.)
- ISBN: 0679603301 (acid-free paper)
-
Physical Description:
xviii, 179 p. ; 22 cm.
print - Edition: 1st ed.
- Publisher: New York : Modern Library, c2000.
Search for related items by subject
Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at Louise Public Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Louise Public Library | 810.8 SHA (Text) | 36761000113345 | Non-Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 1999 December #1
A well-chosen collection of some of the finest women's writing, both fiction and nonfiction, on madness, reflecting the horrifying ways over the years that the condition has been defined and treated. The anthology, with an informative introduction by freelance writer Shannonhouse, runs the gamut from The Book of Margery Kempe (1436) to Allie Light (1999). The intervening 19 pieces essays, letters, excerpts from fiction share a common, if dispiriting, thread. Whether the diagnosis is chemical in origin, a current favorite, or anatomical women's sexual organs were once blamed for what was called hysteria treatment has been obtuse and often cruel. Very few seem to have understood, or even listened to, the symptoms or the painful experiences these women were relating. Margery Kempe went ``out of her mind'' after her child was born, had to be forcibly restrained, but regained her sanity through religious beliefs, becoming a noted mystic. 19th-century social worker Dorothy Dix observed women in New England that were not so fortunate. Some were kept in cages, others whipped, and those thought to be sufficiently docile were auctioned off at an annual sale in which local citizens were paid to house them. As excerpts from Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar, Mary-Jane Ward's The Snakepit, and Light's Thorazine Shuffle show, doctors, nurses, and therapists seem hardly more enlightened: Patients could not refuse medication even if it made them feel terrible, and, as part of her therapy, Light had to walk with a book on her head to improve her posture. Particularly affecting are Charlotte Perkins Gilman s The Yellow Wallpaper both an anatomy of disorder and a portrait of a suffocating marriage and Searching for Mercy Street, Linda Gray Sexton's painful reminiscences of her poet mother s breakdowns. Not a day-brightener, but a stirring anthology of the best and most searing writings that brightly illuminate the dark side of so many women's lives. Copyright 1999 Kirkus Reviews - Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews 2000 January #1
This somewhat uneven collection by freelance writer Shannonhouse focuses not on the experience of mental illness but rather on descriptions of those experiences (both first-and secondhand) written by women, making the subject matter fairly unique. The time span of the 21 brief selections is impressive (1436-1999); however, almost two-thirds of the writings are from the last half of the 20th century. The wide range of work includes arresting first-person descriptions of mental illness and the equally riveting 1843 testimony of Dorothea Dix on the conditions of Massaschusetts insane assylums. Unfortunately, this collection also includes material such as four rather benign letters by Zelda Fitzgerald (published here for the first time) in which she describes "picnic suppers' and "idyllic days" spent at Highland Hospital. Although sufficient for casual reading, a topic this intriguing deserves more thorough treatment. Recommend for larger public and academic collections.-Angela M. Weiler, SUNY Libs., Morrisville
