Publishers Weekly
★ 06/24/2024
Multimedia artist Tendler (The Daily Face) recounts her struggles with mental illness and low self-esteem in this devastating personal history. She begins in 2021, when, at 35, she checked herself into a psychiatric hospital at her therapist’s urging. From there, she weaves in flashbacks that describe, in wrenching detail, her teenage experiences with self-harm (“I am not sure how I landed on cutting... but I am certain I would have found my way to injurious behavior eventually”) and a high school relationship that made her “a girl who, well into adulthood, would contort and conform to the desires of a man, overlooking his easy dismissal, and dampening self-worth, all to be loved.” Much of the account examines a string of failed romances that eroded Tendler’s self-worth, including teenage sexual experiences with much older men. (Her marriage to comedian John Mulaney is only ever alluded to.) She also discusses daily life in the psych ward, and the peace brought to her by her dog, Petunia, before she checked in. After contextualizing her depression as a partial by-product of a turbulent childhood spent witnessing blowout fights between her parents, Tendler ends on a hopeful note (“Life has in no way gotten easier..... But I’ve become sturdier”). In a sea of mental health memoirs, this stands out. Agent: Meg Thompson, Thompson Literary. (Aug.)
From the Publisher
Men Have Called Her Crazy 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
"Equally evocative and devastating."
—Wilson Wong, New York Times Book Review
“A stunning self-portrait of a woman trying to make sense of the misogyny and sexism she has faced throughout her life.”
—Shannon Carlin, TIME ("25 New Books You Need to Read This Summer")
"By reclaiming her story, Tendler questions the unreasonable expectations placed on all women in the modern era."
—W Magazine, "The Best, Most Talked About Books of 2024 (So Far)"
“Devastating...In a sea of mental health memoirs, this stands out.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“An intensive, conversational portrait of one woman’s battle with mental illness...The author’s calm, affable narration belies the seriousness of her condition, and the striking detail she provides offers readers a clear sense of the rigorous inpatient psychotherapy process meant to disarm anxiety and return a sense of normalcy. While Tendler admits that her condition is a lifelong struggle, the book ends on a hopeful note, with the author on the path to maintaining a happy, structured life.”
—Kirkus Reviews