The Center Cannot Hold

My Journey Through Madness

Elyn R Saks

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English

Hyperion
12 August 2008

Biography: general; Memoirs; Gender studies: women; Sociology & anthropology; Psychology

"A much-praised memoir of living and surviving mental illness as well as ""a stereotype-shattering look at a tenacious woman whose brain is her best friend and her worst enemy"" (Time).

Elyn R. Saks is an esteemed professor, lawyer, and psychiatrist and is the Orrin B. Evans Professor of Law, Psychology, Psychiatry, and the Behavioral Sciences at the University of Southern California Law School, yet she has suffered from schizophrenia for most of her life, and still has ongoing major episodes of the illness.

The Center Cannot Hold is the eloquent, moving story of Elyn's life, from the first time that she heard voices speaking to her as a young teenager, to attempted suicides in college, through learning to live on her own as an adult in an often terrifying world. Saks discusses frankly the paranoia, the inability to tell imaginary fears from real ones, the voices in her head telling her to kill herself (and to harm others), as well as the incredibly difficult obstacles she overcame to become a highly respected professional. This beautifully written memoir is destined to become a classic in its genre."

By: Elyn R Saks
Imprint: Hyperion
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 209mm, Width: 138mm, Spine: 25mm
Weight: 310g
ISBN: 9781401309442
ISBN 10: 1401309445
Pages: 351
Publication Date: 12 August 2008
Recommended Age: From 13 years
Audience: General/trade , College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , ELT Advanced , Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Elyn R. Saks is Associate Dean and Orrin B. Evans Professor of Law, Psychology, and Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences at the University of Southern California Gould Law School, an expert in mental health law and a Mac-Arthur Foundation Fellowship winner. She graduated from Oxford as a Marshall Scholar and received her J.D. from Yale Law School. She has published three books and more than two dozen articles, and serves on the board of several mental health foundations. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Will Vinet.

Reviews for The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness

Elyn Saks has been to hell and back . . . chilling. --San Francisco Chronicle Her descriptions of her descents into psychosis are riveting. --Entertainment Weekly (Grade: A-)