Susannah Cahalan is the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness, a memoir about her struggle with a rare autoimmune disease of the brain. She writes for the New York Post. Her work has also been featured in the New York Times, Scientific American Magazine, Glamour, Psychology Today, and other publications. She lives in Brooklyn.
"A stranger-than-fiction thrill ride exposing the loose screws of
our broken mental health system."--O Magazine, Best Books of
December
"A thrilling mystery--and a powerful case for a deeper
understanding of mental illness."--People Magazine
"Cahalan's research is dogged and her narrative riveting, leading
us from red herring to clue and back with the dexterity of the best
mystery novelists. Then she builds her case like a skilled
prosecuting attorney."--p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;
font: 11.0px Helvetica}span.s1 {font-kerning: none}New York Journal
of Books
"Brain on Fire was one of the most gripping, fascinating memoirs to
come out in the last decade. Susannah Cahalan is back with what
should be one of the most talked about books of 2019."--Inside
Hook, 5 New Books You Should Be Reading This November
"The Great Pretender is a tight, propulsive, true-life detective
story which somehow also doubles as a sweeping history of our
broken mental health-care system. Cahalan herself has experienced
this system as both a patient and a reporter, and her background
informs every fascinating page of this dogged investigative
odyssey. It is an amazing achievement, and there is no question it
will go down as the definitive account of one of the most
influential psychology experiments of all time."--p.p1 {margin:
0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px 'Times New Roman'}span.s1
{font-kerning: none}Luke Dittrich, New York Times bestselling
author of Patient H.M.
"The Great Pretender reads like a detective story, with Cahalan
revealing tantalizing clues at opportune moments so we can
experience the thrills of discovery alongside her...What she
unearthed turned out to be far stranger, as documented in her
absorbing new book, The Great Pretender. It's the kind of story
that has levels to it, only instead of a townhouse it's more like
an Escher print. On one level: A profile of Rosenhan and his study.
On another: Cahalan's own experience of researching the book. And
on a third: The fraught history of psychiatry and the pursuit of
scientific knowledge."--New York Times
"[A]n impressive feat of investigative journalism--tenaciously
conduct, appealingly written... as compelling as a detective
novel."--The Economist
"A fascinating, potent, and crucial read."--Buzzfeed
"A gripping, insightful read, The Great Pretender...has the urgency
of a call to action."--TIME Magazine
"A journalistic adventure story. . . Illuminates a game-changing
moment in the history of psychiatry in this country."--NPR
"A masterpiece of historical reconstruction...an intellectual
detective story [and] a towering critique of our systems of mental
health-care. If I could've written this book, I would have."--Ron
Powers, New York Times bestselling author of No One Cares About
Crazy People
"A sharp investigation into how human self-interest, weaknesses,
and egos can shape the way that science proceeds."--Undark
"A study that facilitated one of the most destructive changes in
20th-century domestic policy appears to be withering under
scrutiny."--National Review
"A thrilling and lively work of investigative journalism...This
vital book, full of intelligence and brio, is a must-read for
anyone who has mental illness issues somewhere in their life --
i.e., everyone."--p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font:
11.0px Helvetica}span.s1 {font-kerning: none}Marion Winik,
Minneapolis Star Tribune
"An urgent, personal book...The Great Pretender reads like a
suspense novel, with the reader unable to stop turning the pages.
[This book] cements Cahalan's place in the ranks of the country's
sharpest writers of nonfiction. The Great Pretender is an essential
book, an a plea for the world to come to terms with the way we're
treating some of our most vulnerable people."--NPR
"Bold, brave, and original, THE GREAT PRETENDER grips you as
tightly as the madness it investigates. Cahalan writes with
enormous intelligence and style, and propels you through this dark
and fascinating journey into psychiatry and the very nature of
sanity."--Susan Orlean, New York Times bestselling author of The
Orchid Thief and The Library Book
"Breathtaking! Cahalan's brilliant, timely, and important book
reshaped my understanding of mental health, psychiatric hospitals,
and the history of scientific research. A must-read for anyone
who's ever been to therapy, taken a brain-altering drug, or
wondered why mental patients were released in droves in the 1980s.
And a thrilling, eye-opening read even for those who thought they
weren't affected by the psychiatric world."--p.p1 {margin: 0.0px
0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Times New Roman'}Ada Calhoun,
author of St. Marks Is Dead and Wedding Toasts I'll Never Give
"Brilliant...Indispensable reading."--Library Journal
"Cahalan is a gifted and dogged investigative reporter, and her
work on this study is vital. The questions and concerns she raises
about Rosenhan's research are long overdue."--Paste
"Cahalan researched The Great Pretender over the course of five
years, but the pages practically turn themselves. It's absorbing,
sometimes sobering, sometimes seriously funny. Cahalan's narration
makes the reading great fun, with an urgency occasionally akin to a
thriller."--Shelf Awareness
"Cahalan's passionate and exhaustive reexamination of the famous
research 'On Being Sane in Insane Places' by Stanford psychologist
David Rosenhan is a riveting read...A terrific piece of detective
work [with] fascinating insights into the mental health
controversies that have swirled ever since the study's
publication."--p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 11.0px
Helvetica}span.s1 {font-kerning: none}Forbes
"Engaging [and] illuminating."--Science
"Engrossing."--Nature
"Fascinating...Cahalan sets a new standard for investigative
journalism...Her impeccable inquiry into the shadowy reality of
Rosenhan's study makes an urgent case that the psychological and
psychiatric fields must recover the public trust that 'Rosenhan
helped shatter.'"--Publishers Weekly
"Gripping [and] vivid...A well-told story fraught with both mystery
and real-life aftershocks that set the psychiatric community on its
ear...Cahalan follows all the leads like a bloodhound. Her pursuit
reads like a well-tempered mystery being picked apart, with
tantalizing questions for which many of the answers are just out of
reach."--Kirkus, starred review
"People have asked me over the years: If they liked The Psychopath
Test, what should they read next? I now have an answer. THE GREAT
PRETENDER is such an achievement. It is a wonderful look at the
anti-psychiatry movement and a great adventure--gripping,
investigative--and is destined to become a popular and important
book."--Jon Ronson, New York Times bestselling author of The
Psychopath Test and So You've Been Publicly Shamed
"Susannah Cahalan has written a wonderful book that reflects years
of persistent and remarkable historical detective work. The Great
Pretender is an extraordinary look at the life of a Stanford
professor and a famous paper he published in 1973, one that
dramatically transformed American psychiatry in ways that still
echo today. The book is fast-paced and artfully constructed--an
incredible story that constitutes a tribute to Cahalan's powers as
both a writer and a sleuth."--p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px
0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Times New Roman'}Andrew Scull, author of
Madness in Civilization: A Cultural History of Insanity
"This is a well-crafted, gripping narrative that succeeds on many
levels. Cahalan, who gained the trust of Rosenhan's family, is
meticulous and sensitive in her research; compelling and insightful
in her writing."--The Financial Times
Named One of the Top 100 Must-Read Books of 2019 by TIME
Magazine
Named a Best Book of the Month by the New York Times, Washington
Post, O Magazine, San Francisco Chronicle, Houston Chronicle,
Business Insider, Refinery29, Bustle, CrimeReads, Popsugar, and
PureWow Named a Best Book of the Fall by Kirkus, Bookish, and
LitHub
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