The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression - Softcover

"All encompassing, brave, and deeply humane. . . . It is open-minded, critically informed, and poetic at the same time, and despite the nature of its subject it is written with far too much élan and elegance ever to become depressing itself."--Richard Bernstein, The New York Times

"The Noonday Demon is the ideal and definitive book on depression. There is nothing falsely consoling about this account, which is the opposite of a bromide, unless to be accompanied by so much intelligence and understanding is a consolation in itself."--Edmund White, author of A Boy's Own Story and The Flaneur

"An exhaustively researched, provocative, and often deeply moving survey of depression. . . . original and vividly recounted, Solomon writes engagingly; his style is intimate and anecdotal. . . witty and persuasive. Overall. . . The Noonday Demon is a considerable accomplishment. It is likely to provoke discussion and controversy, and its generous assortment of voices, from the pathological to the philosophical, makes for rich, variegated reading."--Joyce Carol Oates, The New York Times Book Review

"The book for a generation. . . . Solomon interweaves a personal narrative with scientific, philosophical, historical, political, and cultural insights. . . . The result is an elegantly written, meticulously researched book that is empathetic and enlightening, scholarly and useful. . . . Solomon apologizes that 'no book can span the reach of human suffering.' This one comes close."--Christine Whitehouse, Time

"Both heartrending and fascinating . . . the book has a scope and passionate intelligence that give it intrigue as well as heft."--Gail Caldwell, The Boston Globe

"The Noonday Demon explores the subterranean realms of an illness which is on the point of becoming endemic, and which more than anything else mirrors the present state of our civilization and its profound discontents. As wide-ranging as it is incisive, this astonishing work is a testimony both to the muted suffering of millions and to the great courage it must have taken the author to set his mind against it."--W. G. Sebald, author of The Emigrants

"It's a compendium, it's a think piece; it's both! . . . Remarkable . .. [Solomon] has a killer eye for detail, as well as curiosity and compassion."--Emily Nussbaum, The Village Voice

"A wrenchingly candid, fascinating, and exhaustive tour of one of the darker chambers of the human heart."--Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence

"Everyone will find a piece of himself in Solomon's account, even if he has been spared the experience of watching that kernel blossom into a monstrous and strangling plant. . . . Solomon shows bravery and rigor."--Christopher Caldwell, Slate magazine

"Exhaustive and eloquent."--Maria Russo, Salon.com

The award-winning author of A Stone Boat offers a deeply personal look at depression in which he draws on his own battle with the illness and interviews with fellow sufferers, researchers, doctors, and others to assess the vast complexities of the disease, its causes and symptoms, available therapies, and impact on society. 100,000 first printing.