A review by documentno_is
Men Have Called Her Crazy by Anna Marie Tendler

challenging tense fast-paced

3.0

I think as long as anyone enters into this book with the perspective that victims are imperfect, and there is worth talking about one's struggles before they are "healed" then its an interesting enough edition to the zeitgeist of mental illness literature thats been around for decades. Girl Interrupted, Family Stone, Maniac, cut, impulse/crank/etc, I mean, I at least grew up reading these kind of triggering books of dramatic white middle class ennui; when Tendler says problematic shit I'm like yeah, she's in therapy for that? I think this might be a case where somebody gets cheated on and then their public persona becomes exalted to the point of no return, like the only direction to go is down? I was also at The Other Art Fair when Tendler was there and her work was on the better side of a very mediocre overly expensive art fair. This book was not groundbreaking, it was not life changing, it was just one person's struggles and I think theres value in that. Also maybe since my expectations were on the ground, the writing was better than I expected as well? I empathize with a lot of her experiences, and always advocate for de-centering men from your life.