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Summary: one of the best
Review: Andrew Solomons book will be helpful to many people not just sufferers of depression and their families. It is somewhat disjointed at times and overly dramatic however i think this proves just how closely hes deals every day with depression and the meds needed to "control " it. THis book will go a long way towards removing the illogical stigma and fear that surrounds depression and all mood disorders. i admire his deep honesty and tireless research particularly as he was so obviously suffering during the writing of this book. Recommended reading-- Undoing depression by richard o'connor , a good companion text.
Rating: 
Summary: All the things I wish I'd known
Review: If I had a dollar for every time I'd advised my son to "Get out of bed and get with it," I'd be rich. Only now, reading this book, do I realize how little I knew about his illness, and how futile were my efforts to help. How I wish I had had this book in my hands a decade ago. This is beautifully written, practical, amusing in parts, and genuinely helpful. I think every adult ought to read this because at some time or another every one of us is going to have to deal with depression -- either our own, or the depression of a loved one. Most important, this book gives me the confidence to continue to nurture my adult son through his latest episode. I owe Mr. Solomon a real "thank you" for writing his book.
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Summary: The best book on depression I have read
Review: Yes. The best book on depression I have read. Solomon is insightful, candid and emphathetic in this great book. Reading this book has helped me immensely and as a male it's nice reading a book on depression written by a GUY. Make no mistake, this book will help males and females but any guy suffering with this disease must read this book.
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Summary: This book touched & helped me
Review: This book touched and helped me. It summarized so many things that I have so often felt and known but was unable to put into words, and I found it extremely validating. I was particularly appreciative of the chapter on Poverty and Depression -- though the tone rang a little too proto-typically liberal, the theme was definitely true. As someone who grew up in poverty, with depressive anxious work-burdened parents, I could identify with many places throughout the book. I am extremely grateful to the author for having expended so much of himself and his effort and time in researching and writing, and would highly recommend the book to any fellow struggler-managers-of-their mental-health out there.....
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Summary: Definitive, brilliant, and hopeful
Review: This may be the best book ever written about depression, by a sensitive and accomplished writer who has experienced the noonday demon firsthand. Thorough and instructive, it is foremost a book of the heart, carrying a message so human as to focus our energies and gain our respect. Solomon succeeds in this book by piercing myth and misunderstanding, taking us to a place where this awful and awesome disease can be seen for what it is--a condition of the mind and spirit that knows no class or color, but which can be held at bay by medication and the ministrations of caring people. To depressives and their families--and that takes in an enormous number of people--this is a book of nearly magestic reach and authority. It is lyrical, informative, and enlightening about a disease that affects nearly 20 percent of all Americans.
Rating:
Summary: exquisite description of pain
Review: This treatment is so well researched and at the same time it is deeply introspective. To me, it describes the exquisite, acute depth of pain which is depression better than many other books on the subject. It is all encompassing and well written. There is "Hope" brought into the equation yet the endless cycles of the "gift" of depression are only too really related. I recommend this book to anyone who struggles with depression or to anyone who lives or works with someone who suffers from this disease of the soul.
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Summary: Thank you Mr. Solomon!
Review: I think I have acquired every book on depression ever written within the past 15 years in order to understand the illness. Most are good but tend to focus on one aspect of the disease, whether it be the methods of dealing with it, the medical blah blah behind it or stories from sufferers. Mr. Solomon has taken all of these and then some and put them in his book. It is by far the most concise and comprehensive book on depression that I have ever read! I was especially fascinated by the historical perspective as well as the stories from individual sufferers. The book goes into the author's own battle at great length, which automatically lends credibility since I don't think you can truly write about a subject like this unless you have actually experienced it firsthand. Lots of information on treatments, demographic data and the like. If you are a sufferer or know someone who is, get this book!
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Summary: BRILLIANT: exhaustive, unbiased, riveting, compassionate
Review: I could not put this book down. It is by far the best book on the subject of depression that I have read. The book has such range and depth; Solomon tackles all the angles of this complex subject with great intelligence, warmth and insight that he achieves a synthesis of the literary, political, medical, personal, historical, and philosophical dimensions of depression. Somehow the author manages to combine an incredibly personal and moving account of his own struggle with mental illness and that of others with a first class, rigorous text which any expert in the field would benefit from reading. His research, both academic and personal interviews, is impeccable, and I came away completely in awe of Solomon's command of the literature and handling of the numerous controversies surrounding the study of depression. I can't recommend this book highly enough. It is so sophisticated a treatment of the subject that it made me constantly challenge my own views and I was left feeling exhilarated by the book's wealth of subject matter and the author's sensitive and unpatronising handling of it. The Noonday Demon is a fascinating read for anyone with an interest in depression and mental illness, either personal or professional. Solomon comes across as being like the most interesting guest at a dinner party: someone you want to talk to for hours about his experiences as they are so wideranging and unusual in some instances (read the book to see what I mean). It's hard to imagine a better book on depression, and this is surprising given that Solomon is a writer as opposed to a psychiatrist/psychologist. He might as well be, however, as he appears to know at least as much as a professional does and offers us a broader and more heartfelt account than a dispassionate doctor might be able to. I feel that the author has put such mental and emotional energy into the researching and writing of this book that it deserves, in my opinion, to be seen as the spectacular product of many years of Solomon's private reflections on his own illness and the work of an extremely intelligent and gifted writer, a text which future authors tackling the thorny subject of depression will not be able to ignore.
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Summary: A literary masterpiece about depression
Review: This is a landmark work in the history of depression. Never before has anyone described the emotions felt during depression so elegantly. Andrew's literary skill makes each page of this book a pleasure to read. The Noonday Demon is not only well-written, it is also extremely informative. The author takes us on a journey through personal experiences, provides detailed descriptions of medications and side affects, and explores the efficacy of alternative treatments. In the second half of the book he goes on to describe depression in multiple contexts such as history and philosophy. I have been a long time sufferer of depression and I have found hope in this book. It is a subject that I have long been ashamed to speak about outside of my therapist's office. Andrew works to remove the stigma behind this illness and bring all aspects of the disease to light. Depression has no cure, it something must be dealt with and treated on a daily basis. I find strength in the knowledge that so many others are successfully treating depression, even if they are not conquering it completely. The Noonday Demon is a remarkable work that should be read and reread.
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Summary: This book can save a life
Review: The most immediately obvious strength of The Noonday Demon by Andrew Solomon is its supple, incisive, funny, harrowing prose. Its deepest strength is its probing examination of depression from many points of view--historical, clinical, cultural, political, evolutionary, and personal. With a novelist's gift for bringing people to life and a journalist's skill at explaining complicated topics, Solomon is always informative and profoundly humane. He makes the blurry boundaries and maddening complexities of the issues involved comprehensible while arguing persuasively that depression is an inescapable reality of the human condition. The book is highly original. He tells his personal story but widens it with movingly explored case histories and successfully sets these narratives in the context of thorough examinations of the many topics necessary to see the overall subject. The Noonday Demon can set the agenda for an important national discussion. As it makes clear, depression touches all of us whether we ourselves suffer its terrible debilities, know someone who does, or live with (and are probably unaware of) its devastating results for our communities and workplaces. I thought I knew a lot about the topic; I found how much I needed to learn by reading this book. I was most impressed by how honestly Solomon deals with the fact that there are no easy answers to any aspect of the issue, even when he has strong opinions (and his personal point of view is always welcome in these pages: I liked knowing where he stood). No reader is likely to agree with everything he says, but no one will go away doubting the truth of his cri de coeur that as long as we misunderstand depression, people quite literally will die. Highly recommended for anyone who wishes to understand what depression feels like, what it is and is not, how it can be treated, and what happens when it is ignored.
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