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The Collected Schizophrenias

Written by: Esmé Weijun Wang
Narrated by: Esmé Weijun Wang
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Publisher's Summary

Powerful, affecting essays on mental illness, winner of the Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize and a Whiting Award

An intimate, moving book written with the immediacy and directness of one who still struggles with the effects of mental and chronic illness, The Collected Schizophrenias cuts right to the core. Schizophrenia is not a single unifying diagnosis, and Esmé Weijun Wang writes not just to her fellow members of the “collected schizophrenias” but to those who wish to understand it as well. Opening with the journey toward her diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder, Wang discusses the medical community’s own disagreement about labels and procedures for diagnosing those with mental illness, and then follows an arc that examines the manifestations of schizophrenia in her life. In essays that range from using fashion to present as high-functioning to the depths of a rare form of psychosis, and from the failures of the higher education system and the dangers of institutionalization to the complexity of compounding factors such as PTSD and Lyme disease, Wang’s analytical eye, honed as a former lab researcher at Stanford, allows her to balance research with personal narrative. An essay collection of undeniable power, The Collected Schizophrenias dispels misconceptions and provides insight into a condition long misunderstood.

©2019 Esmé Weijun Wang (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

What the critics say

“Wang invariably describes her [bipolar-type schizoaffective disorder] symptoms and experiences with remarkable candor and clarity, as when she narrates a soul-crushing stay in a Louisiana mental hospital and the alarming onset of a delusion in which ‘the thought settles over me, fine and gray as soot, that I am dead.’ She also tackles societal biases and misconceptions about mental health issues, criticizing involuntary commitment laws as cruel. Throughout these essays, Wang trains a dispassionate eye onto her personal narrative, creating a clinical remove that allows for the neurotypical reader’s greater comprehension of a thorny and oft-misunderstood topic.” (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

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A Must Listen

Very insightful, informational and interesting. Esme has a magnetic writing that draws you in at every moment. Schizophrenia is so rarely talked about and when it is, it’s usually in a biased and negative manner. The book speaks about the historic diagnosis of schizophrenia, possible underlying physiological causes, Esme’s experience with it, schizophrenia in the news, how universities handle mental illness and so much more.
Definitely a must listen!

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A generous book & an engaging listen

Once I started listening, I finished the book in a day and a half. An engaging listen. The author's skill in writing and reading her experiences shines through. For anyone looking to make sense of what it's like to live in a complex bodymind, this book is for you.

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Lyrical and insightful

I almost skipped past this book, as I am not usually drawn to essays, but if felt more like a biography to me. I learned a lot about schizophrenia and mental disorders beyond what I had understood previously. How tragic that someone has to search so long for the right diagnosis. She’s quite courageous and philosophical.

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