Esmé Weijun Wang's essay collection delves into her experience with mental illness, specifically her eventual diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder. She's a deft writer, and coalesces her own experience with research and writing about mental illness from a broad swath of sources.⁣
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I learned so much from this collection, especially striking was reading about mental illness treatment in the US. In 'Toward a Pathology of the Possessed' and 'On the Ward' she expounds on involuntary commitment, and the subjectivity of assessing a person's competence to make decisions. Her essay 'Perdition Days' describing the period of time she was convinced she was dead was exquisitely crafted, a rare window into this terrifying experience.⁣
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I was impressed by her essays' skillful, poignant endings. Her story in 'The Choice of Children' of working as a counselor at a camp for children with bipolar disorder, coupled with thoughts on her not having her own children was a favorite. I described the essay to my husband, and to my surprise, as I read the last two paragraphs aloud to him they hit me so hard I choked down tears as I recited the words.⁣
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I loved this collection, and definitely recommend it. Cw for discussions of suicide and rape.