Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America

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Full of promise is how anyone would have described Elizabeth Wurtzel at age ten, a bright-eyed little girl who painted, wrote stories, and excelled in every way. By twelve she was cutting her legs in the girls' bathroom and listening to scratchy recordings of the Velvet Underground. College was marked by a series of breakdowns, suicide attempts, and hospitalizations before she was finally given Prozac in combination with other psychoactive drugs, all of which have worked sporadically as Elizabeth's mood swings ...
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0613069315 Ex-library book with usual markings. Clean text. SATISF GNTD + SHIPS W/IN 24 HRS. Sorry, no APO deliveries. Ships in a padded envelope with free tracking. 6109p

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Overview

Full of promise is how anyone would have described Elizabeth Wurtzel at age ten, a bright-eyed little girl who painted, wrote stories, and excelled in every way. By twelve she was cutting her legs in the girls' bathroom and listening to scratchy recordings of the Velvet Underground. College was marked by a series of breakdowns, suicide attempts, and hospitalizations before she was finally given Prozac in combination with other psychoactive drugs, all of which have worked sporadically as Elizabeth's mood swings rise and fall like the lines of a sad ballad. This memoir, both harrowing and hilarious, gives voice to the high incidence of depression - especially among America's youth. Prozac Nation is a collective cry for help, a generational status report on today's young people, who have come of age fully entrenched in the culture of divorce, economic instability, and AIDS. "This private world of loony bins and weird people which I always felt I occupied and hid in," writes Elizabeth, "had suddenly turned inside out so that it seemed like this was one big Prozac Nation, one big mess of malaise. Perhaps the next time half a million people gather for a protest march on the White House green it will not be for abortion rights or gay liberation, but because we're all so bummed out." Writing with a vengeance Nirvana, Joni Mitchell, and Dorothy Parker all rolled into one, Elizabeth Wurtzel will not go gentle into that good night. She wants off medication, she wants a family, and most definitely, a life worth living.

Painful, poignant, and ultimately triumphant, Prozac Nation is Elizabeth Wurtzel's catharsis--a cry of rage at the chronic depression which has dominated most of her young life. "A powerful portrait of one girl's journey through the purgatory of depression."--The New York Times.

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Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
Twenty-six-year-old Wurtzel, a former critic of popular music for New York and the New Yorker, recounts in this luridly intimate memoir the 10 years of chronic, debilitating depression that preceded her treatment with Prozac in 1990. After her parents' acrimonious divorce, Wurtzel was raised by her mother on Manhattan's Upper West Side. The onset of puberty, she recalls, also marked the onset of recurrent bouts of acute depression, sending her spiraling into episodes of catatonic despair, masochism and hysterical crying. Here she unsparingly details her therapists, hospitalizations, binges of sex and drug use and the paralyzing spells of depression which afflicted her in high school and as a Harvard undergraduate and culminated in a suicide attempt and ultimate diagnosis of atypical depression, a severe, episodic psychological disorder. The title is misleading, for Wurtzel skimps on sociological analysis and remains too self-involved to justify her contention that depression is endemic to her generation. By turns emotionally powerful and tiresomely solipsistic, her book straddles the line between an absorbing self-portrait and a coy bid for public attention. First serial to Vogue, Esquire and Mouth2Mouth.
Library Journal
From her first attempted suicide as a 12 year old, Wurtzel records her life as an intellectually gifted but emotionally deprived young woman struggling with clinical depression. She describes her adolescence and her acceptance to Harvard despite a checkered high school career. At the university, she lived constantly on the precipice of a nervous breakdown-and slipped down into the abyss from time to time. Always, she fought back-relying on therapy, drugs both licit and illicit, friends, and an innate inner strength-and found some salvation in the recognition she received for her writing. Ultimately, treatment with a combination of lithium and prozac allowed her to maintain her stability, but she is unwilling to accept a fate of life-long drug dependence. Graphically written, this book expresses the pain and anger of Wurtzel's unremitting protest against her disability. It will appeal to young readers seeking stories of depression they can relate to. Recommended.-Carol R. Glatt, VA Medical Ctr. Lib., Philadelphia
Booknews
"Full of promise" is how anyone would have described Elizabeth Wurtzel at age ten, a bright-eyed little girl who painted, wrote stories, and excelled in school. By age 12, she was cutting her legs with razor blades, and college turned into a series of breakdowns, crises, and a suicide attempt. Not until being prescribed Prozac, in combination with other psychoactive drugs and therapy, was some stability possible for her. Written with spunk and wit, this is an excellent picture of a young woman's struggle with depression and her view of the dire effects our social and cultural milieu has on the young. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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A harrowing story of breakdowns, suicide attempts, drug therapy, and an eventual journey back to living, this poignant & often hilarious book gives voice to the high incidence of depression among America's youth. A collective cry for help from a generation who have come of age entrenched in the culture of divorce, economic instability, and AIDS, here is the intensely personal story of a young girl full of promise, whose mood swings have risen & fallen like the lines of a sad ballad.
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780613069311
  • Publisher: Turtleback Books: A Division of Sanval
  • Publication date: 1/28/1995
  • Edition description: SPANISH
  • Pages: 384
  • Product dimensions: 4.96 (w) x 7.90 (h) x 1.11 (d)

Meet the Author


Elizabeth Wurtzel is the author of bestselling books including Prozac Nation, Bitch, and More, Now, Again. A Harvard and Yale Law School graduate whose work has appeared in such publications as The New Yorker, New York, The Guardian, and The Oxford American, she lives in New York City.
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Table of Contents


Prologue: I Hate Myself and I Want to Die
1. Full of Promise
2. Secret Life
3. Love Kills
4. Broken
5. Black Wave
6. Happy Pills
7. Drinking in Dallas
8. Space, Time, and Motion
9. Down Deep
10. Blank Girl
11. Good Morning Headache
12. The Accidental Blowjob
13. Woke Up This Morning Afraid I Was Gonna Live
14. Think of Pretty Things
Epilogue: Prozac Nation
Afterword (1995)
Acknowledgments
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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4.5
( 105 )
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Sort by: Showing all of 11 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted November 9, 2006

    one of my favorite books

    prozac nation is by far one of the best books i've ever read. this book is not about whining or making you feel sorry for the author like i've read in other reviews. it's about someone who has struggled most of their life through depression and addiction and takes the time to take the reader in depth into of every aspect of her life. i read this book a few years ago and it is still one of my favorite books. once you start reading you can't stop. this book itself is a drug. you will be hooked instantly. you will find yourself ignoring phone calls food and sleep to get to the next page. This book should be read by everyone. but i think someone who has experienced depression or addiction at some point in their life will appreciate this book even more.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted August 8, 2005

    Depressed or not, you'll relate to this

    Possibly one of the best pieces of work I've ever read, Elizabeth Wurtzel grabs you and takes you under and forces you to feel what she's going through. An amazing writer she is, and continues to inspire and comfort those going through her situations. You will not look at the world--or your own life--the same after reading this book. It's life changing, but a good change at that. She will leave you wondering and wanting more. I definitely recommend this book to everyone who has some kind of adversity, especially troubled young teens who need an escape and a reassurance of not being alone. You definitely dont feel alone when you read this masterpiece.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted November 18, 2004

    Incredible.

    Wurtzel is absolutely amazing. Her work is exactly the pain alot of young is going through right now. Including myself.. I would recommend this book to anyone!

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  • Anonymous

    Posted June 18, 2004

    profound, genius, thought provoking, you'll love it

    This book is an amazing and accurate journey through depression. Elizabeth Wurtzel is an excellent writer who gets your mind thinking and going, you will never want to put this book down. I never imagined i would read a book where the auther would be able to describle so perfectly how i felt and the thoughts that were in my mind, some that not even i can describe. so many parts made me stop and think, it all brought new understanding to a topics prevelent in everyones lives. I related so much to this book and i think anyone depressed or not would also be able to. i recomend to everyone especially if you are trying to understand your own or someone elses depression.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 11, 2003

    AWESOME BOOK

    Prozac Nation was one of the best books I have ever read. It was honest and realistic. Humorous in some parts, and sad in others. I read this book in 8th grade, but I recommend it to grades 9 and up.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 6, 2000

    HARD to set aside

    Almost 2 and a half years ago I purchased this book. I never imagined that it would impact me so much. Being a person who suffers from depression, I really related to many of the tragedies that had taken place in Wurtzel's life. The day that I purchased the book,I also finished it...it was that hard to put down. I have probably read the book at least 5 times since then. She is such an inspiration to women, and she has succeeded in making a life other than being sufficated by depression. She is one of those people that it is your duty as a woman to respect.Even the quotes and inspirational sayings at the beginning of each chapter are so meaningful that I go over them again and again.

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