Review: Prozac nation

A memoir of a depressed, heavily medicated young woman who identifies with Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, and other tragic figures -- and fantasizes about being profiled as a tragic suicide in New York magazine. Born in 1967, Wurtzel grew up in New York City, the precocious only child of divorced parents. At six, she wrote her first book. At the age of 11, she carved up her legs with razor blades in the school bathroom and went to a therapist her parents couldn't afford. But stints at the psychiatrist and summer camp didn't cure Wurtzel of her depression. When she entered Harvard, she spent her days deep in despair or high on Ecstacy or cocaine. By the time she graduated, she was being treated with Prozac and lithium. This is all presented with such narcissistic pride that the following comment about herself is true of the book: ""I was so far gone that I didn't even come across as sad any longer. Just obnoxious."" She wants to contextualize her experience to give it deeper meaning as some sort of a beacon for her generation. But Wurtzel insists on one-upmanship: She's ""a real sicko,"" while the other six million Americans on Prozac are ""all these happy-pill poppers."" She wants it both ways: to be at once the Head Loony and a representative voice. But her nihilism offers nothing new (she wails about loneliness and death's inevitability). Her only generational trademark is a preternatural media sensibility. But even her TV-informed peers cringed when she threw a party celebrating her deflowering. By alternately belittling and belaboring her depression, Wurtzel loses her credibility: Either she's a brat who won't shape up or she needs the drugs. Ultimately, you don't care which. An excruciating portrait of, even cause for, depression. This most certainly is not an examination of a generation's collective psyche.

I loved the tone of this book and the way Elizabeth Wurtzel writes is so compelling and easy to relate to. This book is at times funny and sad but always interesting. I thoroughly enjoyed Prozac Nation and would recommend it to anyone.

Review: Prozac Nation (Movie Tie-In)

I came across this novel while searching for quotes for a paper I was writing exploring depression. I found the quote shown below and was floored by it's powerful imagery. With little thought, Amazon ... Read full review

Review: Prozac Nation

I liked this book. A lot of people are bothered by the author's self absorption but that is the truth of depression - it turns you into a emotional parasite. Wurtzel is brutally honest and self aware ... Read full review

Review: Prozac Nation

I first read this book when diagnosed with a mental illness back in 2006. I found it to be something so profound that I was able to connect with, me being only 15. Rereading it, however, I find it to ... Read full review

Review: Prozac Nation

Prozac Nation is a memoir written by Elizabeth Wurtzel about her struggles with depression starting from her childhood years. Wurtzel takes you through her psychological conflicts by explaining her ... Read full review

Review: Prozac Nation

I think that half the people here and putting a stereotype on people having depression. One girl quotes about getting stories from war victims! My grandfather was in the war and he would have smacked ... Read full review

Review: Prozac Nation

My favorite quotes from this are: "...if you ask anyone in the throes of depression how he got there, to pin down the turning point, he'll never know. There is a classic moment in The Sun Also Rises ... Read full review

Review: Prozac Nation

The book in itself is raw and brutally honest as a whole, sparing the reader no detail of the overbearing depression Wurtzel felt--however, no matter how well-written and interesting this book was, I ... Read full review

Review: Prozac Nation

If you loved this book and found it spoke to you, or made depression more understandable or relatable, then good for you. I didn't find it did any of these things. I found the tone to be painfully ... Read full review