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Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America: A Memoir

Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America: A Memoir

List Price: $14.00
Your Price: $10.50
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Slow at parts but, very good
Review: Prozac Nation is a great book. At times it seems as though, it gets repetative and boring hearing about some of the same things over and over again. At times it seems that is isn't going anywhere. But, her doing that creates an exellent picture of a person with her type of disorder. Also, the way she explains what she is going through is great. She uses lyrics from music, it really helps to convey and tie together all the feelings she describes in her book.
There are chapters in the book that are funny, inspirational, insightful, and all around wonderful. Though, some you just want to end.
It's funny, the part of the book that i thought was the greatest was the afterword and epilogue! I found it to be very intriguing hearing her thoughts on various subject around the world and how prozac has grown.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I've read this book three times now
Review: This book is the best thing I have read in a very long time. It has sort of become a bible in my circle of friends, Elizabeth Wurtzel is a very talented writer whose words truyly speak to me and I empathize with her completely. This book gives depression an identity, allowing the reader to feel her pain and at the same time analyze their own lives in comparison with hers. Being a bright, underacheiving depressed slacker, I have read this book three times now and have read everything elizabeth Wurtzel has written that I have gotten my hands on. I absolutely can't wait for the movie.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A little drawn out, but worth the read.
Review: I felt that this book was little drawn out, but it gave tremendous and truthful insight into the mind of a depressed individual. Elzabeth's account was not only an eye-opener, but a compelling account of the life a person struggling with depression. THe book was a little long and drawn out, but I think that was in a way trying to show the reader how Depression isn't something that just goes away overnight. It is a constant, seemingly lifelong struggle. I would recommend this book to anyone.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A little drawn out, but worth the read.
Review: While never having suffered clinical depression, this book was an eye-opener. I found it very insightful into the world of the depressed. I did, however, feel the book was a bit self-absorbed and drawn out. I don't know if it seems self-absorbed because depression is indeed a problem with one's self, or that she was just a winey brat. The book also seemed drawn out but, in a way, that went to prove the point that depression doesn't just go away on it's own. It is something that stays with a person, and is seemingly a constant stuggle. I would recommend this book for someone with a lot of patience, and who is interested in a good story (that i'm sure many can relate to).

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: TOO NARCISSISTIC TO BE GREAT
Review: Wurtzel's conviction that the planet somehow revolves around her keeps this memoir a safe distance from greatness. This is a terrific (albeit involuntary) study in the link between pain and selfishness; the author's unrelenting depression has created within her an excessive sense of self-awareness. She thoroughly maps her own psyche before the reader's eyes, and the result is weighty and tedious. SHORT OF A PICNIC, by Eric Shapiro, is a much more compassionate and compelling book on the same topic.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: You're right there with her....
Review: Elizabeth Wurtzel's memoir of depression has been described as self-indulgent. I think people are missing the point. Wurtzel describes quite clearly how depression is about *you*. It's about looking out for number one, being so weighed down by that black cloud that it's impossible to care about anyone else. She describes feeling guilty for being depressed, pointing out that she can't blame her family life or circumstances, not knowing who or what or why is making her feel that way. Her helplessness and frustration and acute self-hatred are tangible in these pages. You know exactly how she feels, and you understand her. That's the beauty of this book, and that is why it's so utterly compelling.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: She should pay the readers for their time.
Review: I couldn't stand this book, and counseling depressives is practically a hobby of mine. Self- absorbed? Oh yes, but also self-indulgent, self satisfied, and boring. "Prozac Nation" is an unholy mix of a drama-queen rant, and an internship application. She can brag and wallow in the same sentence, which is a bit of a trick. We get to know what awards Wurtzel has won, (she name drops like she pill pops), her junior high fashion decisions, and endless details about her doomed relationships. We've all sugared and coffeed our friends through the same stuff, but why pay to listen to it from a girl who'd never return the favor? My friends who cut themselves and get too into boys are at least decently ashamed of their cliched sad-girlisms.
The whole thing's delivered in a bloated pseudo-conversational with no style, no rhythm, and not even a whimper of original language. And every character, when he or she speaks, has the same "oh mommy" psychobabble voice. Maybe she can write- she tells us about her extensive journalistic success, but there's no evidence here. And what kind of person puts up a pin-up of themselves on their own cover?
I read this as part of a paper on copyright law, authorship, authenticity, and confessionalism, which also led me to read internet slash fan fiction (do a google search if you want your childhood disturbed). Homosexual unions of Star Wars and Tolkien characters included, this is the worst damn thing I've read all term. Please, please, please shut up.

...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: a must read
Review: Elizabeth Wurtzel wrote a book that totally resembles my past. Her details of the events are so realistic i feel like i'm 16 years old again and then 21 years old again. The rawness of her writing is so pure and honorable. you can't help but to highlight parts of this book because her ideas our so rich with simiuarilties to your own. i've told everyone i know about this book. it's something you need to read and don't wait for the movie; because most likely they'll ruin any substance this book has achieved on paper.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An honest, very human book.
Review: I should clarify a few things about this book before going into it.
1. The title is deceptive, it has very little to do with Prozac or the American anti-depressant culture until the epilogue.
2. I dislike most of Elizabeth Wurtzel's other work and critical essays.
3. It's a memoir that simply writes itself from the mind of a person. It does a decent job of not assigning blame to anything, but it's descriptions and thoughts are simply an honest recount of a persons mind. It's not really an objective critique, so if it seems a little self absorbed at times, that's because it is. Sometimes it will elicit contempt for the author rather than sympathy. It's supposed to. If that stuff bothers you, I would avoid the book. You will hate it. I give it 5 stars only to people who would like it's context.

That said, I loved this book. It is a facinating insight into the human psyche and a very honest description of the way a clincally depressed person feels and interacts with the world. It is an excellent template for understanding the continuum on which the human brain operates, from rational control over one's ideas and emotions to total loss of that control.

More importantly it is an internal portrait of depression that transends outside description. It doesn't make much sense at times. Neither does the human brain. And so this book is a portrait of part of what it means to be human. I don't think that Elizabeth Wurtzel liked the person she was at that time any more than the reader, but it is, none the less, important that we understand who and why she was that person. Poignant and facinating.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: very true
Review: A combination of today's society and Elizabeth Wurtzel's very realistic writing make this story very true and understandable. Some reviewers described the book as drawn out and too long, but I entirely disagree. I found that the story was an interesting, compelling, and thought provoking read with it's truths.

The language is so understandable. By this I do not mean that it is easy to read, small vocabulary, or simple ... by this I mean reading this book is like talking to someone. It is as if Elizabeth Wurtzel is telling you, (which I suppose she is), rather than a narrative story.

This book is anything but a dragged out read, but not because it is short. It is an average sized novel, but it can be read in a couple days because the story keeps you wanting more. I found myself turning pages constantly, always edging to find out what came next.

She does not only describe her misery. She tells of the effects of culture, society, and the media of that time upon her life. She is so easy to relate to, and her story is only too true.


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