Rating: 
Summary: The demon we all face
Review: Everyone I know is in some way touched by depression - be it through personal experience, or the depression of family members or friends. If I had read Andrew Solomon's extraordinary book when I was coping with my mother's manic depression for twenty five years, it would have changed my life - for the better. This passionate, beautifully written and moving book was both totally engrossing and informative - with subjects ranging from the author's own terrible battle with depression to a fascinating description of the history, evolution and politics of depression. I could not recommend THE NOONDAY DEMON more highly - a book which is both beautifully written and life changing in the support and help it can give anyone who has been close to, or experienced ,the horrors and misery of this disease. And despite these horrors the book gives both advice and ultimately hope.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Read
Review: For anyone who from depression The Noonday Demon is a must read. It describes the lives of several people who have poignant stories of how they suffered and in some cases, survived serious bouts of depressive illness. Solomon's knowledge of depression is remarkable as illustrated through the detailed accounts of his story and those of others.
Rating:
Summary: A moving, helpful, intelligent book
Review: This is the best book I've ever read on the subject, and I've read them all. As a depression sufferer myself, I was helped enormously by The Noonday Demon. It explained my own experiences to me and I'll use it to explain those experiences to others; and it gave me a clear idea of how to cope with the greatest difficulties of my life. It is also a testimony to human strength and dignity: the author manages to find the hidden lessons that depression has to teach us, and gives us ways to redeem what might seem to be a useless experience. Not that he recommends getting depressed, just that he tells you how to get some value out of it if you're stuck with it. It's also an incredibly researched book, with information about depression in different times and different cultures and different contexts: depression among the poor and depression among the Greenlandic Inuit and depression among the ancient Greeks and just about everything else. Then there's stuff about depression and the law and depression and politics and depression and evolution. And excellent, lucid science. Finally, it's beautifully written. Some of the prose is so gorgeous you want to copy it out and memorize it like poetry. This is a wise, compassionate, essential book.
Rating: 
Summary: Exactly 3 Stars
Review: Andrew Solomon's essay in "The New Yorker" about his depressive breakdown was sublime, memorable reading, if terrible in terms of content. I couldn't wait for this book, and a testament to its readability is that I read it so quickly, all night long. That's the good news. The bad news is that Mr. Solomon's essay was better; this book doesn't have much in the way of attention span. This is not obvious at first but reading long and carefully you can feel the author's mind jumping around. Solomon is Best on himself. Whereas his shifting anecdotes that take him around the globe are what he could have saved for Noonday II. He gives too little attention to Cambodian tortured, and even trying was being too ambitious. Also: It's good to hear of all the treatments he tried, conventional and alternative, and of the groups he joined. But no one else's story really belongs in This book; could have been filed away for his next...What's needed here is more depth, less bredth. The depth of his various depressive episodes and the excerpts from others' theoretical frameworks didn't mesh for me. Listen, I sure feel for the guy. We learn a great deal about depression here and all of it is Smart. But, it's a mish-mash and you can feel his drug intake, how some sections are slightly manic, others flitting, others going deeper and so holding his and therefore, our attention. On the good news side of my ledger: so many in our culture are on anti-depressants now, and many have suffered with depression and this Is a self-help book many need. The negative: the author never gave this tome the structure that would best serve his too many purposes. He rushes. He slows. The energy of the writing is uneven. But, Hey, I'm glad A. Solomon is a real survivor, a risk-taker and very Smart, without question. Just be prepared for an uneven, if important, ride.
Rating: 
Summary: A passionately written treatise on a painful condition
Review: There is a touching raw honesty about this book on depression, a straightforward exploration of a painful and dangerous experience that affects so many of us. Andrew Solomon's stories are heartrending, as is the passion with which he writes. His goodwill is obvious too - the sincere wish to "eliminate some pain for some people". The depth of this dark and morbid experience, and the paths away from it are evoked with a poetic and intense language which is poignantly effective. Highly reccomended.
Rating:
Summary: Deserving of all its awards!
Review: This book is a powerful demon itself. I cried countless times as I identified with what Andrew Solomon was describing and giving form to with every conceivable anecdote and case study. For personal reasons, I was most interested in the parts relating to suicide. And for those out there like me who are looking for more books on the subject, please consider Carla Fine's NO TIME TO SAY GOODBYE (a suicide survivor's handbook, or bible really) and Jennifer Paddock's A SECRET WORD (a superb, beautifully written novel about young women surviving suicide and living with depression).
Rating: 
Summary: Extremely Narcisistic and Boring
Review: I went into this book with an open mind hoping to read an entertaining book regarding depression...instead I am dragged into this unusual person's hellhole. I should be getting rid of this book very shortly, although I collect books and I hate to get rid of them. How I can sympathize with an Ivy Leaguer who wants the world to know about the personal details of his depression, which is overtly gratuitous? I felt depressed for the past several weeks and guess what, I did some wind sprints and I feel great. Sufferers from depression generally don't receive my sympathy, they were spoiled as children and don't expect to work hard to get what they want, they "throw in the proverbial towel", and claim mental illness. Poor babies. When I started reading about his homo-erotic episodes, it reminded me of Gomes book on spirituality, where they drag you into their world and they don't let you know about their sexual preferances till half-way through and by that time you have commited yourself to reading from cover to cover, which I don't. To be blunt, this book is homosexual propoganda disguised as a self-help book, in my opinion. If I am reading this kind of trash, I would like to be informed prior to reading/buying the book.
Rating:
Summary: Deep and Fascinating Book
Review: This book covers depression from many angles, from the biochemistry involved to the existential questions that (should) bother eveyone.
Solomon looks at how depression is viewed in other cultures, what makes us happy and sad, and maps out the fine road between physiological depression and just feeling blue.
He broaches the subject of suicide with admirable straightforwardness and clarity. I really like his observation that with suicide a person not only destroys themselves, but also the entire world that they perceive.
The book is enjoyable to read and is not overly technical. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand this core aspect of being human.
Rating:
Summary: Five stars for Andrew. Three Duh-uh-uhs for a couple of the
Review: reviewers. Both "A reader" and Mike Finn have criticized a book about depression as being "too whiney" for them. Isn't that a little like saying that the cookbook could have been better if they just wouldn't talk about food so much?
I myself have suffered from depression almost as long as I have suffered from reading poorly thought out customer reviews on Amazon.com. I'm not sure which is worse.
Great job, Andrew. A real gift for people who genuinely suffer from depression. And, guess what - It turns out that it's also good for people who suffer from whining too much!
Say, if you take a little time off from whining sometime and actually READ THE BOOK, you might come to discover the difference. But I understand. Reading is kind of hard on you whiners. It's so much easier to whine than to try to read and understand a book that's actually a little bit longer and a tad more complex than a Harry Potter novel, isn't it?
Rating:
Summary: If you think you suffer from depression, read this book
Review: This is one of the two best books I have seen on depression, the other being "Night Falls Fast" by Kay Jamison.I suffer from both clinical depression, and profound suicidal ideations. Contrary to the assertions of a previous reviewer, Solomon points out the difference between depression that is a chronic mental illness, as opposed to being a little weepy about "Sex & the City" ending its run. This is not a "psycho-babble" book. Solomon is critical of the ignorant view that people suffering from depression need to just "get over it" or "cheer up" or "think positive." Depression is much more than that: It is an illness. Telling someone who is clinically depressed to "cheer up" is like telling someone who is near-sighted to just concentrate harder, and you will see clearer. While both are possible, do not bet on either working. Solomon also attacks those irresponsible authors who contend that medication to address mental illness is not necessary. While certainly there may be some mild forms of mental illness that can be treated with "potatoes, not prozac" (to coin a phrase), to say that medication is not necessary is not only wrong, but insulting. Still, while mental illness does has its origins in biochemical reactions, the "disease" model is an imperfect fit. That is where Solomon's book really provides a service: People suffering from depression do need medication. Nevertheless, your doctor is committing malpractice if you only take medication, and do not pursue a program of talk therapy. About two years ago, I had a significant tumble. A friend read a review for Solomon's book, and encouraged me to read it. I did. From Solomon's careful, and helpful explanation of the different medications, and their history, I was able to sum up the courage and strength to talk to my doctor about my suicidal urges. Still, I was afraid--afraid that my doctor would either scoff at me, and tell me to "grow up" and "stop being such a baby." Or the other extreme: Call the police, and have me dragged away to a padded room for the next five years. Fortunately, neither of those things happened. Instead, I got a perscription, and sought out a counselor on a friend's recommendation. Today, I still struggle with my depression, and have to be careful--but it is not as consuming as it was before. Suicidal ideations and depression are not exactly the same, but connected, like the rails of a railroad track. If you are suicidal, I urge you to find something--anything--you would miss if you were no longer here: blue sky, good food, your favorite song, a relative who loves you. Hang on that. Then remember that you are not alone: Many other people feel the same way. You are not weak, or strange. But you do need (and deserve) help. If you don't trust or feel comfortable with your doctor, then find another doctor you do trust. But do something--You don't need to suffer alone. This book is a good place to start. Begin with the introduction, and skip to the chapter on suicide. Another book that helped me (in addition to the above mentioned book by Jamison) is "The Savage God: A Study of Suicide" by A. Alvarez. Both are available through Amazon.com, but should also be available at your local bookstores--if you need help right away.
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