The Noonday Demon ─ An Atlas of Depression

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. He confronts the challenge of defining the illness and describes the vast range of available medications, the efficacy of alternative 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 emerging biological explanations for mental illness. With uncommon humanity, candor, wit, and erudition, award-winning author Solomon takes readers on a journey of incom-parable 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.

Andrew Solomon studied at Yale University and Jesus College Cambridge. He is a regular contributor to The New Yorker, ArtForum, and The New York Times Magazine. He is the author of The Irony Tower: Soviet Artists in a Time of Glasnost and a novel, A Stone Boat, which was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times First Fiction Award. He is the winner of the 2001 National Book Award.