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Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'
The Lonely City: Adventures in the Art of Being Alone by Olivia Laing
9 reviews
alyssapusateri's review against another edition
3.5
Moderate: Death, Abandonment, Addiction, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, and Drug use
Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Stalking, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Pedophilia
effievee's review
4.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Gun violence, Violence, Drug use, Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Grief, Medical content, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Rape, Racial slurs, Self harm, Alcoholism, Racism, and Classism
owenwilsonbaby's review against another edition
5.0
Wow! My copy is dog-eared from the countless quotes I wanted to remember and include here. What a beautiful and articulate piece of writing about analysing and challenging loneliness and what a delicate and finely-wrought talent for storytelling.
Moderate: Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Drug abuse, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Stalking, Abandonment, Child abuse, Cursing, Grief, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Blood, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, and Violence
savvylit's review against another edition
3.5
Where The Lonely City excels is in its biographical portraits of lonely artists. Beginning with Edward Hopper and Andy Warhol, Laing also compassionately portrays the lives of two lesser-known artists: Henry Darger and David Wojnarowicz. Laing's continued discussion of loneliness' relationship to these artists' creativity and community is extremely fascinating. The Lonely City constantly pushes readers to consider all the ways that someone can feel lonely or ostracized - even in a densely populated urban setting. Using the four aforementioned artists, she creates a very moving meditation on cultural normativity and it's inexorable connection to loneliness.
All that being said, I do think this book was a tad bloated. Like Laing's own walks around New York City described in this book, The Lonely City is quite meandering. I think this book would have benefited from focusing purely on biography and drawing conclusions from the artists' lives. However, Laing injects several random-seeming mentions of her own life which throw off the overall flow. For instance, she mentions a devastating breakup that she experienced - and then never discusses it again. I know it's definitely more than possible to weave personal anecdotes into biography. But in the case of The Lonely City, it is just not well-executed
Graphic: Mental illness, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Violence, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Terminal illness, Death, and Sexual assault
clarabooksit's review against another edition
Graphic: Drug abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Misogyny, and Addiction
Moderate: Gun violence, Violence, Rape, Sexual violence, and Bullying
maudhee's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Mental illness
Minor: Pedophilia
maureen's review against another edition
2.75
Minor: Addiction, Mental illness, Homophobia, Gun violence, Drug use, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, and Chronic illness
tasho's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Drug abuse, Homophobia, and Sexual content
Moderate: Sexual violence and Mental illness
Minor: Death
julied's review against another edition
3.0
Moderate: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual content
Minor: Addiction