Product Description

Mad, bad and sad. From the depression suffered by Virginia Woolf and Sylvia Plath to the mental anguish and addictions of iconic beauties Zelda Fitzgerald and Marilyn Monroe. From Freud and Jung and the radical breakthroughs of psychoanalysis to Lacan's construction of a modern movement and the new women-centred therapies. This is the story of how we have understood mental disorders and extreme states of mind in women over the last two hundred years and how we conceive of them today, when more and more of our inner life and emotions have become a matter for medics and therapists.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12924 in Books
• Published on: 2009-01-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 608 pages

Review
** 'Informative in startling ways, and never dull in the academic way, Appignanesi's genuinely new History of the Mind Doctors is a subtle and accessible account of that perhaps most daunting of modern relationships, the one between the Mind Doctor and his female patient. Because Appignanesi has a complex story to tell there is no blaming at work in this wonderful book, but a shrewd and sympathetic apprehension of what is at stake in the difficult histories of both the Mind Doctors and those they seek to help. It is a remarkable achievement' Adam Phillips ** 'A tantalising mix of polemic and history, of ideology and fact ... A gripping read ... In a league far above any other book of its kind on this topic' SUNDAY BUSINESS POST ** 'Endlessly fascinating' THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY ** 'Subtle, textured and enthralling ... One of the great strengths of this book is the way in which it charts the uncanny relationship between fashions in psychiatric theory and sufferers' symptoms' SUNDAY TIMES ** 'Marvellous. At last! A serious, well-researched book on this important subject' Pamela Stephenson ** 'The triumph of MAD, BAD AND SAD is to mix evocative case studies with potted histories of the great and good of psychology and psychiatry ... an intelligent and academically rigorous study' OBSERVER ** Lisa Appignanesi's absorbing book ... gives us a fascinating account of an important and illuminating subject' THE IRISH TIMES ** 'Fascinating ... In this sweeping, humaned and formidable researched study ... Lisa Appignanes does what all the very best investigative writers and journalists do: she raises questions for us to anwer.' Carmen Callil, DAILY TELEGRAPH ** 'There is some wonderful writing here and plenty of sharp insights ... Lisa Appignanesi has said it is the book she has been writing all her life. It is also, in many ways, the book we have been waiting for' Francis Wilson NEW STATESMAN ** 'Appignanesi's strength is in the master of the sweep of history' THE TIMES ** 'Glittering intellectual history of women, madness and the mind doctors' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH Melanie McGrath ** Here, Appignanesi's novelist self pops up and helps her to create a narrative method mixing historical description illuminating biographical anecdotes' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY Michele Robert ** 'Ambitious, sobering and often entertaining account of a contentious subject, which, at the same time is scholarly, acute and written with judgement. Appignanesi's prose is lucid and unpretentious' GUARDIAN Salley Vickers (Book of the Week) ** 'Mad, Bad and Sad is constantly interesting...wonderfully engaging and enlightening' INDEPENDENT Rachel Bowlby ** 'A fascinating account of an important and illuminating subject' IRISH TIMES Catriona Crewe ** 'A thoroughly researched and absorbing study' HERALD ** 'Lisa Appignanesi tackles the subject of female mental illness with sympathy and clarity' SUNDAY HERALD Theresa Munoz ** 'A tantalising mix of polemic and history, of ideology and fact ... A gripping read ... In a league far above any other book of its kind on this topic' SUNDAY BUSINESS POST 'Lisa Appignanesi's engaging and important study which weaves together intelligent discussion of trends in the talking cures with case-studies of both patients and doctors, manages to be as gripping as a thriller ... both rewarding and timely. You'd be mad not to read it.' Time Out 'This book is a serious and sober account of a very important issue and is needed now more than ever ... As Appignanesi argues, women's oppression and poverty can lead to mental illness, both of them creations of the mad system we live in.' Socialist Review 'Endlessly fascinating' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY

Independent on Sunday
'Endlessly fascinating'

Sunday Business Post
'A tantalising mix of polemic and history, of ideology and fact . . . A gripping read . . . In a league far above any other book of its kind on this topic'

Customer Reviews

Exciting yet thorough, with fascinating detail
Long and thorough but easily dipped into by chapters, this is a great survey of specific women - from famous literary figures on down - and the medical practices and theories that bound them and defined them in different ways. While it's clearly taken on a lot of the theory of Foucault and others in its reading of history, it's not a difficult book. Though rigorous, it is less interested in a final conclusion or a theory of history, than it is in the weave of detail and the weighing of comparables in actual lives, both of the mind-doctors and their subjects. Some of the life stories are both unbelieveable and inspiring. Making difficult ideas accessible and even entertaining to read about, i recommend this highly as a very usfeul and readable survey of the field.

A Good History
A very well researched and written account of psychological pressure through the life and times of women
(Including lots of insights into the after lives of some famous patients). This book is fascinating, and it's written in a lively and stylish manner, without a whiff of jargon.

Hard to get through
I was very excited about this book. It sounded interesting and right up my alley. But from the first chapter I was astounded by the writing. it was very difficult to read--verbose, often grammatically incorrect. It made it all very distracting from the subject matter and stories. Anecdotes were good, interesting. But the writing really detracts from quality of book, unfortunately.