Rating: 
Summary: Truly one of my favorite books
Review: Prozac Diary is more than another book about antidepressants; it chronicles one woman's journey to accept herself, her past, her illness and its treatment. For those who haven't experienced this, the book will probably be boring. For those who have, it's like finding a friend.
Rating: 
Summary: Overwritten
Review: The main fault I find with this book is the way it is written. The author uses too many metaphors, which I found annoyingly abstract. I had a sense that the author wanted to write in a catchy way so that it would sell. There is no way I can read her mind when she wrote the book but it just didn't seem frank. It was almost as if she was thinking "Nothing in here should sound too dull or boring or no one will want to read it". She seemed to go overboard with the colorful images - every paragraph was written (in a way that a student might try to spice up a creative writing paper in order to get an A), but paradoxically her effect *was* quite boring, in a way I can't describe. It would have been better if she was told from the outset to eliminate all poetry and flowery phrases and just share what her life was like. Or, perhaps her book is the unfortunate product of "what are we supposed to think when we want our illness to be understood by the public" -- as the catchier something sounds the more likely it will get noticed (as in a glossy ad). I do think it would take a gifted writer in order to get noticed in the first place, especially in a subject as obscure and little-understood (in most peoples' perceptions) as 'depression'. It would be very hard to sell ourselves in our success-oriented culture (USA), unless it is a giant act of heroism (in the conventional sense of the word) or an extreme anomaly or exaggeration of sorts (Perhaps if Laura Slater had two heads along with her taking Prozac she could be more optimistic about her chances :-). Depression is a very banal illness -- something that is more likely to go unnoticed or seem 'self-absorbed' if expressed in a completely candid way. I can only speculate why Slater overdid herself in this book "See? My experience with depression is not so dull or boring. I can ENTERTAIN you with my flowery prose". There were a number of times that I would have wanted her to get into the specifics of her day-to-day experience - I wanted to know what she was feeling, her thoughts, particularly the ones that we depressives wouldn't dare share with anyone else - the ones that most haunt and embarrass us. Instead I felt dissatisfied with all the stuff that was very catchy but didn't seem to quite fit. She seemed to be trying to make rainbows with her prose when the reality might have been a bit of grey.
Rating:
Summary: A poetic Prozac success story
Review: This book is a very well written and interesting memoir about the author's experiences with Prozac. Slater's writing has a pleasing, poetic quality that makes her book stand out among the best in the genre of mental illness memoirs. I'd say her writing is nearly as outstanding as that in Kay Jamison's "An Unquiet Mind" and Susanna Kaysen's "Girl, Interrupted". The effects of the drug on Slater's OCD and borderline personality characteristics is also remarkable- she becomes "better than well" and experiences the world as if being born anew. This is an excellent book that should be read by anyone interested in mental illness or anyone who enjoys reading well written memoirs. Avery Z. Conner, author of "Fevers of the Mind".
Rating:
Summary: The Best of Slater
Review: This book is my favorite Lauren Slater book if you like this one and you like other books like prozac nation or such you'll LOVE Lauren Slater. Slater is so poetic the way she talks I always underline great phrases or quotes in my Slater books. This book tells of her journey with Prozac and it tells it from a person who knows! Not only did she take Prozac she is also a doctor of psychology she talks about things that other doctors will not touch such as prozac poop-outs and having a child born under the influence of prozac. I can't wait for her new books I'm always on here looking she's really the best in this sort of book subject.
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