Synopses & Reviews
With uncommon humanity, candor, wit, and erudition, National Book Award winner Andrew Solomon takes the listener on a journey of incomparable range and resonance into the most pervasive of family secrets.
The Noonday Demon examines depression in personal, cultural, and scientific terms. Drawing on his own struggles with the illness and interviews wit fellow sufferers, doctors and scientists, policymakers and politicians, drug designers and philosophers, Solomon reveals the subtle complexities and sheer agony of the disease. He confronts the challenge of defining the illness and describes the vast range of available medications, the efficacy of alternative treatments, and the impact the malady has had on various demographic populations around the world and throughout history. He also explores the thorny patch of moral and ethical questions posed by emerging biological explanations for mental illness.
The depth of human experience Solomon chronicles, the range of his intelligence, and his boundless curiosity and compassion will change the listener's view of the world.
Synopsis
Based on an article Andrew Solomon wrote for The New Yorker, The Noonday Demon examines depression from personal, cultural, and scientific perspectives. Drawing on his own struggle with the illness and interviews he has conducted with fellow sufferers, doctors, scientists, policymakers, politicians, drug designers, and philosophers, Solomon reveals the subtle complexities and the sheer agony of the disease. He confronts the challenge of defining the illness and describes the vast range of available medications, the efficacy of alternative treatments, and the impact depression has had on various demographic populations around the world and throughout history. He also explores the thorny moral and ethical questions posed by emerging biological explanations for mental illness. Capturing the depth of human experience, the range of Solomon's intelligence, and his boundless curiosity and compassion, The Noonday Demon will forever change the way listeners view depression.