Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining, but is Wurtzel simply depressed?
Review: Wurtzel's experiences with mental illness make for entertaining reading. The woman has a penchant for raging, out-of-control, public spectacles that make Courtney Love seem shy and demure in comparison. But speaking as someone who suffers from depression, I think that Wurtzel may be afflicted with something closer to bipolar disorder. Depressed people tend to be quiet and withdrawn, but Wurtzel describes frequent binges of sex, drugs, creative output and impulsive behavior that are typical of mania, not depression. And in the afterward, she *complains* about how common a drug Prozac has become! She seems threatened by the possibility that the uniqueness and severity of her illness are being co-opted by all the Johnny-come-latelies. Don't worry, Elizabeth, we all know you're a real kook.
Rating: 
Summary: Honest Truth about Depression
Review: I usually have a hard time getting through books, if something does not move me by the first couple of pages. I enjoyed this book, probably because there were a lot of situations, which I felt that I had been in. I think it is difficult for people who have never suffered from depression to understand this memoir; they might see the memoir as more annoying and monotonous than a depressed person would. I think this would be a good read for a person who knows someone suffering from depression; hopefully this book would shed some light on why depressed people do the things they do. As I was reflecting on how my experiences related to hers, I began to get a little depressed myself. However, overall I have to give Wurtzel credit for keeping my interest, up until the end, which I found a bit dry and predictable. What can one expect from a memoir; life is unpredictable and can be boring at times.
Rating: 
Summary: An Interesting Memoir
Review: I liked this book, but it isn't a pleasant book to read. The pain of being depressed is expressed well, and the reader can't help but be pulled in to her pain too. It was well written, although incohesive at times, and quite fascinating at times. Wurtzel's writing skill and vocabulary is impressive, but sometimes her choice of words grates on you, eclipsing the flow of the story and the ideas being expressed. Wurtzel states in the Afterword, written in 1995, that it was her intention that the reader feel angered at her selfishness and total and absolute disregard for anyone but herself, and she has definitely achieved this result. The book does make her seem to be a spoiled child, as she lays on the floor in bookstores and screams until she gets what she wants -- which is usually attention from a man or a reaction of sympathy from her mother or a motherly figure. She seems to be in love with her depression, describing the shape and colour of the pills she is prescribed as if they are works of art and worthy of admiration. She states that she enjoys seeing a therapist, because someone is listening to her and giving her all of their attention. This love story she has with her depression continues on, as even when she is on the verge of a breakthrough, she runs to various cities to delay facing it. The fact that this bright girl flees to London to escape her depression -- an interesting city, but not exactly a cheerful place for a sun-lover, such as Wurtzel -- is perhaps my favourite illustration of the fact that her depression had truly muddled her thinking to the point of delirium. The fact that she managed to graduate from Harvard while going through so much had me wondering if the reputation of the college is warranted, I must confess, as although she completed her work, she didn't seem to suffer academically from missing so many classes. The depressive mind is captured in this book, as Wurtzel intended. The reader is carried into her depression and shares the desperation to find some relief for her pain, and the reader feels great sympathy with those around her and can relate to the frustration those close to her her felt. She holds nothing back and lets the reader see herself at her worst, and for this and for the preciseness and depth of her expression of her depression, this book is worth a look.
Rating: 
Summary: trash
Review: This book was so terrible. I am 15 years old and I am very suicidal and depressed. But Wurtzel wants everyone to feel sorry for her. She annoyed the hell out of me! The way she told everyone I'm so sad, I don't ever want to get out of bed, I must be hooked on drugs to keep me alive. I HATE people who talk like that. When you're really depressed you shouldn't whine about it like she did!!!! I'm warning anybody who picks this book. Throw it in the trash.
Rating:
Summary: terrible "woe is me" book
Review: This book is awful. It was okay though in the beginning. Then she starts talking about how she wanted to be depressed and acted depressed and then couldn't stop. Excuse me? Does that make any sense. I hated to hear the parts where she says to her mother repeatedly (as a teen and a adult)"Oh mommy, I am so depressed and sad. I don't know why. I can't move. I'm so depressed. I need to be hooked on drugs." I hate people who whine like that. It's so pathetic and annoying. Her mother does the wrong thing. Instead of telling her to shut up and get over it, she apparently hooks her up with pyscharists who Elizabeth uses to play with. Repeatedly, she tells the pyscharists she wants to die and starts becoming very self absorbed. I couldn't stand how she was so wrapped up in herself. Didn't she care about anyone else? Various things happen to Elizabeth but nobody cares. None of it is remarkable. Alot of girls get depressed after they break up with their boyfriends. Big deal. It isn't interesting. Other stuff happens to but it's hard to keep track of it because no matter what Elizabeth is always unhappy and whinning. The funniest thing about this book is she doesn't appear to be happy until she finally attempts to kill herself in a wimpy way (where her pyscharist is nearby and can get her help) and acts like this is the perfect cure for depression, to try to kill yourself and fall. Then she mentions in the back of the book how she's glad she made it threw and compares herself to kurt cobain. Please. What a crapfeast. Last chapter is a riot. She talks about all the posers on prozac and how she is the only one who really needs it and is depressed. she needs to get over herself quickly.
Rating:
Summary: i think this book saved my life
Review: Elizabeth Wurtzel is an amazing writer. She can be witty, self-deprecating, and brutally honest at the same time. She writes of her lengthy battle with depression, one she admits she will always be fighting and sometimes wonders if it's worth it. To some readers, she may seem whiny and self-pitying, but only someone whose been trapped by a debilitating depression can fully understand and appreciate the self-absorption Elizabeth felt. I was going through a very difficult time when I found this book, and for the first time I felt like someone really knew what I was going through, and that someone could survive this.
Rating:
Summary: Black, for good cause.
Review: As you glance at the title of the book, the first thought to enter your mind are the ones of the "Oh so Famous" Prozac, it's leaps, and it's falls in the American society. This book takes that appeal, places it into a memoir, and saves "The best for last". Imagine a black world, a world so dark, so painful, so sadness-filled, so horrid that something as simple as waking up in the morning becomes a hassle. Imagine a world where you could care less about how you acted, how you looked, how you left an impression on someone. Imagine a world where the only thing you could think about is yourself and not being "Okay". This is the world of the depressed person, this is the world of a depressed young adult. The amazing factors of this book aren't that it merely states how depression is, or depression alters your life, she (Elizabeth Wurtzul) literally transplants you into her life. You feel her pains, you feel her sufferings. A quite common response or turn off to this book is the repeativiness to it, as to how she constantly wants to die, or feel better. That is the true form of depression. Depression is not, by any means, a happy thought, a joyful memory, or an exciting thrill ride. Depression is quite best termed as "Hell inside". There are rare occasions in which an author can take these feelings and place them into writing, Mrs. Wurtzul has done an exceedingly amazing job with that translation. If you depise this book, then you know how depression feels, if you love this book, you can likely relate to the author. That is why the book is amazing, it inadvertantly appeals to both one whom dislikes and likes the book as a whole. This is not a common feat. I'd recommend this book to anyone with any involvement with depression, or any major psychological disorder, because it sheds light onto the mindset and thoughts of someone in the actual disorder.
Rating:
Summary: A good book but not for everyone
Review: Growing up isn't easy. It can be even worse if you have any kind of condition. Putting all pride aside, Elizabeth Wurtzel has written a powerful memoir about what it is to be a person suffering from depression. She shows how complicated life can be, and how important our friends are to help us getting out of such a situation. Many people complain that the book is full of self-pitty. Sure it is, but I don't think it is really a problem. We can get through it. I found the writing very touch and sincere, and Wurtzel a brave woman to come so clean about he problems. I do believe that writing was somehow a catharsis that helped her to 'overcome' her condition. The 'Afterword' present in the paperback edition is clarifying and elucidates how much we aren't aware of our conditions and ourselves. It is a good book --but depressive (but it is not a surprise, since we know what it is about). Nevertheless, it is not recommended to everyone. I suggest it only to people who have suffered from depression and to those who has a least interest in the subject, otherwise, it won't be interesting for you. If you enjoy this, I also recommed 'Bell Jar', by Sylvia Plath; and 'Girl, Interrupted', by Susanna Kaysen.
Rating:
Summary: A great book!
Review: I have to say that by far it is Elizabeth Wurtzel's brilliant prose and intelligent cultural allusions that draw me in, almost more so than her portrait of the sort of confusing and bewildering madness depression creates. Wurtzel talks candidly about the turmoil into which her illness casts her. The disease affects her relationships, her direction in life, and makes her feel miserable all of the time. She describes herself as whiny and frequently tearful, though not always knowing why. I recommend this book to everyone. Beautifully written and very convincing -- and most of all honest. Also recommended: THE LOSERS' CLUB by Richard Perez. I picked up both books on Amazon and got a great deal.
Rating:
Summary: Get real
Review: Throughout the book she pays to go to therapy, whines and complains to anyone who will listen, repeatedly gets people to help her in any way she wanted, and now we are paying HER $14.00 a pop to hear her complain to us. I feel for anyone who is depressed, I have been depressed myself but I never wrote a book about it. Who is the smart one here?. Check out Rat Race Relaxer: Your Potential & The Maze of Life, it has uplifting stories and advice to live a better life, everyone could use this message.
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