Rating: 
Summary: Objective and subjective all at once
Review: A very detailed memoir about living depressed that is interesting to read if you get into the story but disregard all the analysis. What you get out of her story is as good as it gets. Quite frankly, it's difficult to understand her because she chooses all the wrongs in her life which she then expands on and adds to her list of things that made her depressed. We seem to skip all of the brighter moments, such as making friends and getting into her dream school. The tone gets quite annoying if not for her way of defining society from such a skewed perspective. I do however like the ending, perhaps because I was pessimistic about her whining from the beginning. She seems to bring her story together, and yet at the point in her life when she wrote the novel she still can't look at her situation from the side and see its similarity to those of many people. I still recommend reading it as it is well-written and can be interesting.
Rating: 
Summary: Whatever you want me to be
Review: Alright so having read the other reviews to this book I was not all together surprised. Actual depression is so misunderstood by the general public that it makes me kind of sick. People who say, "I'm not happy but I get up and go to work anyways," don't really know what they are talking about. Being brought up in a world where depression is seen as something that women should be assualted about and not really as a disease. Wurtzel is able to express the language of an actual person with depression. Some may say that's arrogant, but really that's a big part of being depressed and not to mention an addict (see More, Now, Again). The voice is real. She makes you see and understand. She explains in detail cutting which is so misconceived of, especially by men in this country. She shows how one feels in the heart of that black hole, that you want so badly to get out of, where you decide to make house and hang up pictures because there is no light and no way out that is visible. I recommend that anyone who reads this to read More, Now, Again, especially if dealing with dual diagnosis because depression and addiction go so hand in hand.
Rating:
Summary: 'Prozac Nation,' the only book I could stand
Review: Alright, I hate reading. I've only gotten into 2 maybe 3 books... But I couldn't put this one down. I was dragged to the book store, and was scanning the books to pass the time. I saw the title "Prozac Nation" and was intrigued. I read the first chapter in the store and had to buy it. I read 90 pages the first day I had it; I normally get bored within the first paragraph. But Elizabeth Wurtzel grabbed my attention from the first sentance. Now, instead of dreading another book report I have to fake, I can't wait untill I can buy 'Bitch', and 'More, Now, Again' (Perhaps I got that wrong) to share with my classmates her amazing ability to grab someone's [lack of]attention like mine. I am in love with this woman
Rating:
Summary: A ride to hell and back
Review: As one being diagnosed with major depression single episode and anxiety disorder/social phobia, and having been presribed prozac as a result, I found Prozac Nation to be a very gripping and compelling account of one woman's seemingly neverending battle up with depression. Elizabeth Wurtzel's vivid and articulate description of her illness and her life gave me the very clear message that I was not alone and that no one who has depression, or any mental illness for that matter, should feel alone. Help is out there if one chooses to accept it. I find her to be an extremely brave person for being able to talk about her personal demons and experiences for all to read. Perhaps she means this confessional to be some sort of cathartic therapy for her. If so, I sincerely hope it has helped her, as I believe this book has helped me and has given me much to reflect upon. Thank you Elizabeth Wurtzel for writing this much needed book.
Rating:
Summary: Hits the Nail on the Head
Review: As someone who has experienced the excruciating feelings and craziness of depression (and its close cousin, obsessive-compulsive disorder), I must say that Wurtzel's candid, no-apologies-offered writing hits the nail on the head. Naming the misery as she does--calling it what it is--takes the edge off the pain, the embarrassment, the feelings of aloneness. Feeling like I'm losing my mind -- literally -- is one of the loneliest, scariest experiences I've ever known. When you've got company, it means a lot; one crazy person doesn't feel quite so isolated when she knows someone else shares that craziness. If you haven't experienced this degree of depression and anxiety, I'm not sure how well you could really appreciate this book. Continuous references to death and darkness and emptiness begin to grate on your nerves, I imagine. Depression, in my experience, is really all about reality without hope. In this respect, it's a blessing and a curse --a gift because it enables the afflicted to see through life's props and lies with amazing clarity, a curse because it is so weighty and powerful that it shuts out the light and promise that really is present. Wurtzel tells the reality part of it like it is. She doesn't moralize, doesn't worry about offending--she just wants to get it out there on paper, which she does. Sometimes I think this is just what the doctor should order (and some of them do).
Rating:
Summary: Poetic honest and real
Review: I guess that you can say that reading memoirs is a new thing of mine. After reading such great books as Wasted by Marya Hornbatcher and First Person Plural I picked up Prozac Nation, looking foreword to an interesting story about growing up with depression. What I got was such more. Prozac Nation is a personal tale of growing up with depression and not really knowing what it was at first. Because of her parents divorce, Elizabeth Wurtzel was used to going to therapy sessions but the thought of her having depression didn't come up to years later. The book mainly focuses on her college years, about Elizabeth's living with depression, how she dealt with it and how it effected her life. Prozac Nation is written with the honesty and closeness that you might find in a dairy. I agree with many of the opinions that Miss Wurtzel has. Unlike some memoirs on this subject it is not filled with medical facts, but reflections. I would highly recommend this book to anyone. Although I personally don't think I have any kinds of serious depression, I'm not the most calm and happy person in the world. This book made me realize that many people go through the same things and much worse. If you're a fan of memoirs or just good stories you should read this.
Rating: 
Summary: Prozac Blah
Review: I'm 24 and I've been clinically depressed on and off for nearly ten years. My final diagnosis is bipolar type II. I thought that I would be able to relate to Ms.Wurtzel's story because we are somewhat close in age and because I've been *extremely* depressed in the past. I thought wrong.
I really don't understand why all the hype about this book. There are many better books out there. One that comes to mind is the Bell Jar. If you want to read a good book read that one, but don't bother with this book.
Technically speaking it's a good book. She can in fact write well but she's so whiney it's seriously hard to take. I've been extremely depressed before probably even more depressed than Wurtzel and I was never this whiney in my life. Not only is she nearly constantly whiney but she is so self-indulgent/ self-involved it will make you want to vomit. Either that or put the book down and never want to pick it up again.
What else? Some parts were so boring I was forced to skip over them entirely.
Overall this book doesn't really help the reader understand clinical depression better, in my opinion anyway. Also, I guess it is my opinion that I have suffered through something much worse than clinical depression, that being manic-depression. More and more I find it difficult to relate to people who just have clinical depression. If you have bipolar disorder I think it is unlikely that you will be able to sympathize with the whiney, narcissistic, self-involved/self-indulgent narrator that Wurtzel proves to be.
I only gave it two stars because she actually knows how to put a sentence together well. If that weren't the case I would have given it one star.
Ouch, that's harsh I know...but really, what is with all the hype?
Rating:
Summary: Of course she's whiny and self-indulgent - She's depressed!
Review: If you can force yourself to see beyond the "spoiled brat" - the whiner moaning about how black life is, never mind that she studied in Harvard, writes for Rolling Stone even before she graduated, is on the New Yorker's payroll - you will see that Elizabeth really was only out to portray the life and thoughts of a true depressive. The best part for me was when, after her suicide attempt, Ellie realized that she needed to live if only for ice cream.
Despite the theme of the book, Elizabeth manages to slip in some humorous moments and it makes the book easier to read.
The oddest thing, though, was the editing of the book. There were two words that were missing in the whole book, I forgot now which words those were.
Rating: 
Summary: Somewhat Been There; Somewhat Done That
Review: No one, not even for a single instant, can look out at the world through the eyes of someone else's mind. Yet, Wurtzel tries to bring us into hers and show us what it's like to view the world from a mind suffering from hereditary (probably manic-)depression. And since she is trying to show us what it's like INSIDE her mind, is it any wonder that her mostly stream-of-consciousness narrative tends to be self-centered? Who of us in the privacy of our minds is NOT self-centered? After all, we are all fated to be only ourselves 24/7 for our entire lives. And constantly suffering, as Wurtzel does from severe bouts of depression, interspersed with irrational frenzies, is it any wonder that Wurtzel does NOT seem to notice the affects her behavior is having on those close to her, such as her mother? (Yet Wurtzel still dedicates her book, "For my mom, lovingly.")
The hardcover edition of this book came out in 1995. Some of us love it; some of us hate it; some of us don't know what to make of it. But at 269 reader reviews and still counting on this Web page alone, it looks like this book is going to keep disturbing us for quite some time in the future -- particularly now that it's been made into a movie.
I understand approximately ten percent of us suffer from some form of chronic depression, including me -- not to anywhere near the extent Wurtzel does, but enough to understand where she's coming from. Why doesn't she act like a "normal" person? Because she can't understand the mind of a "normal" person anymore than a "normal" person can understand hers. If she could change her mind to that of a "normal" person, don't you think she would? Indeed, isn't that her motive for taking Prozac in the first place? And since we're dealing with a person's mind here, not a novel, I think it is precisely this inability for any of us to truly be able to occupy another person's mind that is leading to all the controversy. No, this read is not particularly fun, but then neither is being a manic-depressive. Yes, it's often repetitive and at times boring, but so is life. And she does try to give us a bit of humor mixed in with all her problems Although I recommend this book for everyone due to the insights it can give on how some of us look out at the world, I particularly recommend it for those ÂgnormalÂh people, such as WurtzelÂfs mother, who find themselves either having to bring up, or married to, or have some other such close relationship to someone suffering from depression. Note that the hardest part of her entire day is simply getting out of bed. Note how her mind is stuck in overdrive and almost out of control. Note that while she is just barely functional, she wishes at times she could cross over the line into sheer insanity, be institutionalized, and be done with it. Note the sudden flashes of fear for no reason. And note the state of her mind when she tries to ÂgescapeÂh from all her problems (from herself, really) by suddenly flying off to a London she has never been to -- and discovers immediately, of course, that sheÂfs just put herself in an even worse situation. Yeah, I can understand where all this is coming from; and a ÂgnormalÂh person after reading this book will at least gain a better idea. Ironically, my only disappointment about this book is its misleading title. It is NOT about Prozac since she doesnÂft start taking it until the end of the main book. It IS about being ÂgYoung and Depressed in AmericaÂh. But I had hoped to find out more about this supposed wonder drug and what it feels like to be on it. Interestingly, though, in the Epilogue written some eight years later, she writes that while the Prozac did seems to help her sudden mood swings, after several years on it, her old problems started creeping up on her again. Drugs can help people like her, but not cure them. She is stuck with being herself for the rest of her life. Just like the rest of us. For better or for worse.
Rating:
Summary: 10 reasons for YOU to read Prozac Nation
Review: Read this book if you:
1. know this isn't it.
2. find the answers in music.
3. hate and love yourself more than anyone.
4. normally feel abnormal.
5. are uncertainly enjoyable to others.
6. regularly feel your insides wretch.
7. think life and death resemble a coin flip.
8. need to learn control
9. can't articulate your emotional vomit
10. want to know someone else for a change.
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