Prozac Nation by Elizabeth Wurtzel Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Prozac Nation
Book Review: A Powerful And Absorbing Book
Summary: 5 Stars
Elizabeth Wurtzel hides nothing when writing about depression. I found myself laughing and crying all the way through this book. Thank you for being so honest about this illness.Book Review: A Self-Absorbed Rant
Summary: 1 Stars
Elizabeth Wurtzel does a decent job of conveying what depression is like. But the fact that she has been depressed does not make this an insightful book. One of the jobs of a writer is to take personal experience and make it transcend their own individual experience, to make it relevant and emphathetic to many people. Wurtzel, however, seems convinced that she is the only depressed person to walk the earth. Yes, that is how many depressed people feel, but if she means to summarize her experiences and give them literary merit, some reflection and perspective is necessary. Her self-absorbtion dominates this book. In addition, Wurtzel feels the need to constantly remind us that she went to Harvard, and exactly how many awards she has won for her writing. These assertions of her brilliance would seem a little more plausible if the book was at all well written. Instead, it reads as if Wurtzel spoke it into a tape recorder and had it transcribed. A little judicious editing might have made this into a readable book instead of a self-absorbed riff.Book Review: A Very Important Memoir
Summary: 4 Stars
Before I even get started I have a confession...I owned Prozac Nation for quite awhile before I actually read it. I was under the prejudicial cloud that it was a "chick book", not only because it was written by a young woman, but I think possible because society seems to paint depression as a feminine malaise.
Once I started it, after reading the prologue I learnt to put my first impressions away and read it for what it was; which is a very important book.
Elizabeth Wurzel opens up her mind and soul sharing her happiest(not too many granted) & darkest moments with the reader. She tries to analyze the roots of her feelings, and maybe reach catharsis through the writtem word. Granted there are times in the memoir where she intentionally(?) makes it very hard for her audience to sympathize with her plight at all, and this is a book one probably doesn't want to zip through. In fact it took me longer than planned because I found if I read too much at a time almost by osmosis it seemed, Wurtzel's depression would seep into me.
This book isn't an easy or light read but I stand by my orginal statement it is very important and honest work, and especially relevent to people who have felt not only in a funk or little blue, but that have reached inside themselves swirling in their blackness of the feelings. Wurtzel lets those people know that they are not alone others have felt the same bleakness and lived to find the silver lining amongst the clouds.
Book Review: A brave book!
Summary: 4 Stars
I think Wurtzel does a fabulous job in showing the non-depressed person what its like to be depressed from the inside out. Once i started the book I was absolutely hooked (partly because i had a book review due the next day in my General Psychology class) but at any rate I think it was completly gutsy to expose herself like she does- sacrificing herself on the alter of truth.Book Review: A brave piece of work
Summary: 5 Stars
I just got around to reading "Prozac Nation," four years after it came out. I had no idea it would be so good. Initially, I was annoyed by all the talk surrounding it: Harvard girl gone mad. Elizabeth Wurtzel is a bold, brave, fine writer. She tells her story in compelling prose, paints a distinct picture of her surroundings outside and inside her brain. Her travels through depression are told in a clear manner, allowing insight into a disease I knew nothing about, except that it existed. Sometimes the details are a little too relentless, but on the whole, this is a riveting read, a fascinating story told by an excellent writer.