Men Have Called Her Crazy
Books | Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs
3.7
Anna Marie Tendler
*NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER* “This book is so many things I didn’t know I needed: a testament to the work of healing, a raw howl of anger, and an indictment of misogyny’s insipid, predictable, infuriating reign.” —Carmen Maria Machado, author of the National Book Award finalist Her Body and Other Parties and the Lambda Literary Award winner In the Dream House A powerful memoir that reckons with mental health as well as the insidious ways men impact the lives of women. In early 2021, popular artist Anna Marie Tendler checked herself into a psychiatric hospital following a year of crippling anxiety, depression, and self-harm. Over two weeks, she underwent myriad psychological tests, participated in numerous therapy sessions, connected with fellow patients and experienced profound breakthroughs, such as when a doctor noted, “There is a you inside that feels invisible to those looking at you from the outside.” In Men Have Called Her Crazy, Tendler recounts her hospital experience as well as pivotal moments in her life that preceded and followed. As the title suggests, many of these moments are impacted by men: unrequited love in high school; the twenty-eight-year-old she lost her virginity to when she was sixteen; the frustrations and absurdities of dating in her mid-thirties; and her decision to freeze her eggs as all her friends were starting families. This stunning literary self-portrait examines the unreasonable expectations and pressures women face in the 21st century. Yet overwhelming and despairing as that can feel, Tendler ultimately offers a message of hope. Early in her stay in the hospital, she says, “My wish for myself is that one day I’ll reach a place where I can face hardship without trying to destroy myself.” By the end of the book, she fulfills that wish.
AD
Buy now:
More Details:
Author
Anna Marie Tendler
Pages
304
Publisher
Simon and Schuster
Published Date
2024-08-13
ISBN
1668032368 9781668032367
Community ReviewsSee all
"This is an extraordinarily vulnerable, powerful memoir that not only reflects on the author’s own life but on how our society itself treats, belittles, condemns, and maligns women, insidiously making us believe we are less than, are too much, are crazy. I absolutely LOVED the first 50% and couldn’t stop talking about it, and for that I’m giving this four stars instead of three. Tendler is such a likeable narrator, you can’t help but feel you’ve made a friend in her. But I worry this memoir suffers from perhaps its most intentional and necessary omissions. Except for in passing, Tendler doesn’t ever mention John Mulaney, only referring to him as her ex-husband. He gets no attention, no shine here. No reviewers will be able to pull click-grabbing quotes about him, and I love that. I know this was necessary for her to do in order to reclaim her identity and her story, and I do applaud that. But in omitting reflections on a decade of her life, there is a gaping hole here in the story that I tried to, but can’t, look past. Subsequently, the second half of the memoir felt confusing, incomplete, and hastily composed. I hope one day she’s able to write about that time and reclaim it like she has the rest of her relationships. Bravo, Anna, I’m rooting for you always ❤️."