Night Falls Fast, Kay Redfield Jamison
Night Falls Fast, Kay Redfield Jamison
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Night Falls Fast
Understanding Suicide

Author: Kay Redfield Jamison

Narrator: Sarah Mollo-Christensen, Kay Redfield Jamison

Unabridged: 11 hr 3 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/16/2019

Synopsis

Critical reading for parents, educators, and anyone wanting to understand the tragic epidemic of suicide—”a powerful book [that] will change people's lives—and, doubtless, save a few" (Newsday).

The first major book in a quarter century on suicide—and its terrible pull on the young in particular—Night Falls Fast is tragically timely: suicide has become one of the most common killers of Americans between the ages of fifteen and forty-five.

From the author of the best-selling memoir, An Unquiet Mind—and an internationally acknowledged authority on depression—Dr. Jamison has also known suicide firsthand: after years of struggling with manic-depression, she tried at age twenty-eight to kill herself. Weaving together a historical and scientific exploration of the subject with personal essays on individual suicides, she brings not only her remarkable compassion and literary skill but also all of her knowledge and research to bear on this devastating problem. This is a book that helps us to understand the suicidal mind, to recognize and come to the aid of those at risk, and to comprehend the profound effects on those left behind.

About The Author

KAY REDFIELD JAMISON is Professor of Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine as well as Honorary Professor of English at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. She is the author of the national best sellers An Unquiet Mind, Night Falls Fast, and Touched with Fire. She is coauthor of the standard medical text on manic-depressive illness and author or coauthor of more than one hundred scientific papers about mood disorders, creativity, and psychopharmacology. Dr. Jamison, the recipient of numerous national and international scientific awards, is a John P. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellow.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Mike on May 04, 2013

I'm reluctant to commit to "paper" the thoughts and feelings that Night Falls Fast evoked. It's - obviously - going to function as a triggering experience for many depressed people. And it will be very distressing for people who have either considered, romanticized, or settled on suicide. Chroniclin......more

Goodreads review by Thomas on May 29, 2015

"Suicide is a particularly awful way to die: the mental suffering leading up to it is usually prolonged, intense, and unpalliated. There is no morphine equivalent to ease the acute pain, and death not uncommonly is violent and grisly. The suffering of the suicidal is private and inexpressible, leavi......more

Goodreads review by Kirsten on January 31, 2008

Jamison begins this excellent book by describing suicide in the same terms that one might describe a particularly awful disease: "Suicide is a particularly awful way to die: the mental suffering leading up to it is usually prolonged, intense, and unpalliated," she writes. "There is no morphine equiv......more

Goodreads review by Heather on May 10, 2011

Lots of good information abounds in this book. I appreciated the mixture of clinical information and artistic commentary on the subject. But as a sibling of someone who committed suicide I am left with one question/concern. What of all those out there who are mentally ill and tending towards suicide......more

Goodreads review by Amy on May 13, 2019

Wow. What a great book! I can’t tell you how much I learned just from reading this book alone! There were so many different subjects, all relating to suicide in one way or another, and from all different kinds of places, time periods, etc. it was actually surprisingly readable and interesting! I wan......more

Quotes

"Jamison writes with authority, clarity and clinical reserve. Powerful as her medicine is, her poetic accounting of this dark death is more affecting still."—Baltimore Sun

"Jamison brings us face to face with the suicidal mind in a manner so intense and penetrating that, paradoxically, the immersion in despair she offers is a source of great pleasure."—The Washington Post Book World

"This powerful book will change people's lives—and, doubtless, save a few."—Newsday


"A profound and impassioned book—it will stand as the authoritative study of suicide for many years."—William Styron, author of Darkness Visible

"[Jamison] writes not only in fierce opposition to suicide, but also in passionate vindication of life."—The New York Times Book Review

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