The Noonday Demon: An Atlas Of Depression

Written by Andrew Solomon

Narrated by Andrew Solomon

The Noonday Demon is Andrew Solomon’s National Book Award-winning, bestselling, and transformative masterpiece on depression—“the book for a generation, elegantly written, meticulously researched, empathetic, and enlightening” (Time)—now with a major new chapter covering recently introduced and novel treatments, suicide and anti-depressants, pregnancy and depression, and much more.

The Noonday Demon examines depression in personal, cultural, and scientific terms. Drawing on his own struggles with the illness and interviews with fellow sufferers, doctors and scientists, policy makers and politicians, drug designers, and philosophers, Andrew Solomon reveals the subtle complexities and sheer agony of the disease as well as the reasons for hope. He confronts the challenge of defining the illness and describes the vast range of available medications and treatments, and the impact the malady has on various demographic populations—around the world and throughout history. He also explores the thorny patch of moral and ethical questions posed by biological explanations for mental illness. With uncommon humanity, candor, wit and erudition, award-winning author Solomon takes readers on a journey of incomparable range and resonance into the most pervasive of family secrets. His contribution to our understanding not only of mental illness but also of the human condition is truly stunning.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Feb 1, 2002
• ISBN: 9780743543118

Andrew Solomon

Andrew Solomon is a professor of psychology at Columbia University, president of PEN American Center, and a regular contributor to The New Yorker, NPR, and The New York Times Magazine. A lecturer and activist, he is the author of Far and Away: Essays from the Brink of Change: Seven Continents, Twenty-Five Years; the National Book Critics Circle Award-winner Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity, which has won thirty additional national awards; and The Noonday Demon; An Atlas of Depression, which won the 2001 National Book Award, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and has been published in twenty-four languages. He has also written a novel, A Stone Boat, which was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times First Fiction Award and The Irony Tower: Soviet Artists in a Time of Glasnost. His TED talks have been viewed over ten million times. He lives in New York and London and is a dual national. For more information, visit the author’s website at AndrewSolomon.com.

Reviews for The Noonday Demon

[mirrani_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book was part of a reading challenge for me, but I also chose it because I wanted to better understand what my best friend goes through when she suffers her periods of depression. I ended up with the audio version and I wasn't too disappointed. I'm not a fan of self help type books, so I entered worried that most of the audio would contain ways to change or improve, but this wasn't always the case, in fact, it gave me a very clear understanding of what it is like to suffer depression.It felt a little self pitying to me, though. I understand that depression puts you in a certain mentality, but I felt as if that mentality was seeping through a lot of times. Yes, I wanted to understand the suffering, but not through the author's wallowing in it the way that he did at times. Not suffering from this myself, I can't confirm or deny the research or the alternative methods he used, but I wasn't coming to this book looking for answers for myself, only to understand the feelings of others. In that, I think the author succeeded rather well.

[shulera1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

TL;DR Synopsis
Depression is pretty common and totally awful for a whole slew of reasons.

TL;DR Review
Uncomfortably relateable, but with comforting amounts of information pulled from a variety of sources and filtered through many different lenses.

Review
If you've ever wondered how depression affects X, chances are, it's covered in this book. But you could probably guess that from the sheer size of the thing. There's a lot of info between the covers of Noonday Demon, but we all know that quantity doesn't necessarily equal quality. Well, don't worry. The information provided is throughly sourced, highly relevant, and presented clearly and understandably.

Despite the amount of information provided and the potentially devastating subject, I never felt confused or overwhelmed. NAME excels at presenting all of his information clearly and weaving others' opinions with his own words in such a way that never leaves the reader confused. And I never felt crushed by the weight of the topic, even while experiencing a mild depressive episode myself. (Because I chose to read this in the middle of winter -- my hardest season -- like a dummy.)

If you suffer from depression, read this book. If you have a loved one in your life who suffers from depression, read this book. If you are at all interested in the psychology of or global impact of depression, read this book. It is a real treasure.

[thetwods · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

For anyone who battles depression, or has a loved one who does, Andrew Solomon's The Noonday Demon should be required reading. The author seamlessly blends accounts of his own depression with vignettes of others along with an immense amount of research detailing the history, politics and potential of depression and its treatment.While reading, I began to pick up on subtle signs that I have noticed in the case of someone I know who battles depression. I feel that I am more understanding and sympathetic to the bewildering array of symptoms accompanying this disease. I know now things to watch for, and ways to be of assistance without being intrusive. At the same time, the details of the research ongoing to find new and better methods of treatment gives me hope.This is not a self-help book and the author does not intend this to be a panacea for depressives. However, in reading it, one realizes the scope of the illness and its panoply of effects on those it descends upon and their friends and families. The author resonates hope throughout the work and it is this hope which will infect the reader and offer a glimpse of a possible outcome.

[karen.strong · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Far and away the best book available about depression.

[theageofsilt · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Solomon's work is a comendium of the disease that is serious depression. He relates his personal experience as well as the biology, treatment, demographics and history of the disorder. It is highly readable and profoundly sad. Although this disease claims, many lives it does not have its telethons and 5K run fundraisers.

[arctic1stranger · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Solomon takes you into the heart of depression--it's symptoms, possible etiology, treatment--and he does it from the inside, because this book is as much about him and his own struggle with depression as it is depression itself. Some of his information is dated, but not much. I highly recommend this for anyone who either has depression, or who lives with someone who has depression.

[wishanem · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A thoughtful examination of depression in different cultural contexts. The author tells personal stories as well as discussing the history of the study of depression. At times there isn't a very clear narrative, as the book is structured more like a collection of essays. the book's tone of honesty and thoughtfulness helps to keep it from being depressing as it delves into the topic of depression.

[dianemb_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is absolutely the best one I've read on depression to date. The author is a sufferer himself and he did an amazing amount of research into his subject. This is a thorough coverage of a very complicated subject.

[worldsedge · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Perhaps the best single volume overview of this topic ever written. It seems to try to hit everything: history, medications, treatments, sociological effects, the relationship between suicidality and depression (not as exact as I thought) and very briefly the future of treatment. The bibilography alone runs to over thirty pages. The only complaint I can level at this work is that is seems the author couldn't figure out to what extent he was writing a biography, to what extent a polemic and to what extent a textbook, though that last may not be the proper term. He seems to be trying to give himself "street cred" in this area, if that makes sense. As in, yes I come from a privelged background and am a writer for many popular and prestigious...but I'm as bad off as some poor slob who's spent half his life shuffling between state hospitals and community treatment. Not necessary, and slightly distracting from the overall superb work done.Oh, and the author's photo is disturbing. He looks like Lon Chaney with a bad tan.

[phil5james · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was full of trepidation at the heaviness of the subject here, but in the end I am very glad I read it. He investigates depression from every angle including the view from his own break-ups, and talks to all sorts of people in many walks of life and parts of the world.

[dabble58 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Andres Solomon takes readers through the valley of despair in his book, The Noonday Demon, a national book award winning tome that describes despair and mental torment in such lovely language it is like trailing one's fingertips through cold water. Shocking, numbing, and yet oddly entrancing. Solomon's discussion of his own experiences and those of people he has been interacting with is heartbreaking. The depth of pain they have experienced is harrowing. It is hard to imagine the mind that turns so much on its owner. As someone who has experienced depression for several years, I've had a taste of this experience. It is almost impossible to express. Solomon's book is perfect for helping put the feelings into words. That said, I don't believe your average depressed person could swallow this book. It is long, dense, typed small. The tales are legion. I had to stop reading intently and start skimming for fear of being swallowed, and I have to admit my innate rejection of wallowing made me balk at some of his descriptions. I do know despair, and the darkness therein, but I haven't been where he and these people have been, and it is difficult to empathize. Is mental pain worse than bone cancer pain? Can they be equated? How much is "letting things take you down" and how much is a part of the disease? I think these questions always arise with mental illness, with many other diseases less obvious to the viewer. I have MS and tire of being told that I just need a positive attitude to overcome the muscle spasms and weakness that overcome me daily. I imagine the severely depressed feel the same way. The discussion of why medications work and how is somewhat muddy and it would behoove anyone on these medications to review them with a qualified pharmacist. Overall, this is a fantastic reference book to the feelings in depression. Just don't read it on a grey, rainy day when life already seems a bit dingy around the edges...

[maryh10000 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've had chronic depression for the last several years since I entered perimenopause. Not a quick and easy read, but very accessible, personal and thorough.

[meggyweg · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was a good book, but I found it more scholarly, less readable and harder to get through than similar books such as Peter Whybrow's [A Mood Apart] and Lewis Wolpert's [Malignant Sadness]. Perhaps this is because Solomon cites a lot of philosophers. He has extensive notes, but the book itself isn't footnoted; you have to go to the back and sort of guess what bits in each chapter the notes are referring to. That's frustrating. I do, however, think this book is valuable, particularly the chapter on illicit drugs and depression (unlike most people, Solomon doesn't just issue a blanket "don't do it" on substances but analyzes each one and what they can and can't do for depression), and his chapter on depression and poor people.

[vesuvian_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Solomon spent a great deal of time researching this work and his time and effort shows. Sadly, he did the research out of need rather than out of personal pleasure. I recommend it to anyone who can handle a thick book about a weighty subject or to anyone who is living with someone with clinical depression. Who is going to do the same for someone with bipolar disorder?

[whirled_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What would entice someone to read a great big book about depression? Well, the key ingredient that makes The Noonday Demon palatable is hope. Andrew Solomon's prose is full of compassion and never strays into maudlin rumination. He also finds a good balance between scholarly and plainspoken tones, which help to avoid the dull patches that one expects in such a book. Recommended for those who have suffered depression and/or want to understand it.

[allison7sivak · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

One of the most important books I have ever read. I will return to it again and again.

[josephking6602 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very interesting blend of psychology, pharmacology, history, social commentary, along with some very colorful descriptions of his personal experience with Depression. The style and tone of this book was much like his more recent book, "Far from the Tree". I enjoyed them both equally. The only reason that I didn't give Noonday Demon 5 stars was that, at time, it was a bit repetitive and overly verbose. Also, in spots, it was a bit self-indulgent. However, a very valuable reading experience.