Awards

• Short-listed for Wellcome Trust Book Prize 2015

Overview

A ""bravely intimate [and] dazzlingly comprehensive"" history (The New York Times Book Review) of efforts by scientists, philosophers, and writers to understand anxiety—from an acclaimed journalist with his own longstanding battle with this often misunderstood affliction.   Drawing on his own experience with anxiety, Scott Stossel presents a moving and revelatory account of a condition that affects some 40 million Americans. Stossel offers an intimate and authoritative history. We discover the well-known who have struggled with the condition, as well as the afflicted generations of Stossel's own family. Revealing anxiety's myriad manifestations and the anguish it causes, he also surveys the countless psychotherapies, medications, and often outlandish treatments that have been developed to relieve it. Stossel vividly depicts anxiety’s human toll—its crippling impact, its devastating power to paralyze. He also explores how individual sufferers—including himself—have managed and controlled symptoms. By turns erudite and compassionate, amusing and inspirational, My Age of Anxiety is the essential account of a pervasive affliction.

Full Product Details

9780307390608

Table of Contents

Reviews

Kirkus (starred review) In this captivating and intimate book, the editor of the Atlantic spares no detail about his lifelong struggle with anxiety and contextualizes his personal experience within the history of anxiety's perception and treatment....Stossel deftly explores a variety of treatments and their risks and successes, providing unique insight as both a journalist (whose priority is impartial investigation) and sufferer (whose imperative is to feel well). Throughout, the author's beautiful prose and careful research combine to make this book informative, thoughtful and fun to read. Powerful, eye-opening and funny. Pitch perfect in his storytelling, Stossel reminds us that, in many important ways, to be anxious is to be human. Booklist (starred review) Tying together notions about anxiety culled from history, philosophy, religion, sports, and literature with current neuropsychiatric research and his extensive personal experience, Stossel's book is more than an astounding autobiography, more than an atlas of anxiety. His deft handling of a delicate topic and frustrating illness highlights the existential dread, embarrassment, and desperation associated with severe anxiety yet allows room for resiliency, hope, transcendence. Absolutely fearless writing. Daniel Akst, The Wall Street Journal Excessive anxiety, it turns out, is like most things that beset humans: partly nature and partly nurture. And it may even have its virtues. Worriers tend to be conscientious, sensitive to others and detail-oriented. These can be useful traits in many aspects of life: in marriage, say, and in the workplace. They appear to be useful in an author as well, judging by Mr. Stossel's achievement in My Age of Anxiety... .In dissecting his own acute case, along with the disorder that afflicts him, he offers a degree of understanding to the rest of us--along with a modicum of comfort and even hope to those who must trudge through life chronicallyD

Kirkus (starred review) In this captivating and intimate book, the editor of the Atlantic spares no detail about his lifelong struggle with anxiety and contextualizes his personal experience within the history of anxiety's perception and treatment....Stossel deftly explores a variety of treatments and their risks and successes, providing unique insight as both a journalist (whose priority is impartial investigation) and sufferer (whose imperative is to feel well). Throughout, the author's beautiful prose and careful research combine to make this book informative, thoughtful and fun to read. Powerful, eye-opening and funny. Pitch perfect in his storytelling, Stossel reminds us that, in many important ways, to be anxious is to be human. Booklist (starred review) Tying together notions about anxiety culled from history, philosophy, religion, sports, and literature with current neuropsychiatric research and his extensive personal experience, Stossel's book is more than an astounding autobiography, more than an atlas of anxiety. His deft handling of a delicate topic and frustrating illness highlights the existential dread, embarrassment, and desperation associated with severe anxiety yet allows room for resiliency, hope, transcendence. Absolutely fearless writing. Daniel Akst, The Wall Street Journal Excessive anxiety, it turns out, is like most things that beset humans: partly nature and partly nurture. And it may even have its virtues. Worriers tend to be conscientious, sensitive to others and detail-oriented. These can be useful traits in many aspects of life: in marriage, say, and in the workplace. They appear to be useful in an author as well, judging by Mr. Stossel's achievement in My Age of Anxiety... .In dissecting his own acute case, along with the disorder that afflicts him, he offers a degree of understanding to the rest of us--along with a modicum of comfort and even hope to those who must trudge through life chronically

Scott Stossel has produced the definitive account of anxiety. . . . This story has needed to be told. Andrew Solomon, author of The Noonday Demon Enlightening, empowering. . . . Brave and . . . potentially therapeutic. The Washington Post Sheds light not just on a particular disorder but on the human condition that gives rise to it. The Wall Street Journal Brings to this story depth, intelligence, and perspective that could enlighten untold fellow sufferers for years to come. Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love A carefully reported, wryly funny, and admirably honest historical and personal investigation. Elle [An] erudite, heartfelt, and occasionally darkly funny meld of memoir, cultural history, and science. . . . Excruciatingly relevant. O, The Oprah Magazine Bravely intimate. . . . Dazzlingly comprehensive. The New York Times Book Review Admirably done. . . . Intelligent, interesting, and well written. The New Yorker First-rate. . . . Fascinating. . . . [A] triumph. The Boston Globe There is much pain here, but humor, too. . . . Without meaning to, Stossel has written a self-help manual. Newsday Quite impressive. . . . [Stossel is] a terrific, companionable writer. Forbes With humor, insight and intense research, [Stossel] sheds light on the disorder that is believed to affect one in seven Americans. From a historical overview to a review of current treatments in a book laced with fascinating personal anecdotes, Stossel delivers authentic perspective on such suffering. New York Daily News Scott Stossel s new book on his lifelong struggle with severe anxiety is outstanding in the fullest sense of the word. . . . Both conspicuous and superior within its genre. The Seattle Times Books exploring personal experiences of mental illness tend to be either over-wrought accounts of personal trauma that shed little light on the world beyond the author s nose, or the more detached observations of scientists and medics. It is rare to find works that bridge these objectives, which is one reason that the writer Andrew Solomon achieved such success with The Noonday Demon. . . . Stossel s book deserves a place on this higher shelf. Nature Powerful, eye-opening and funny. Pitch-perfect in his storytelling, Stossel reminds us that, in many important ways, to be anxious is to be human. The Dallas Morning News An immense achievement. . . . Superbly wide-ranging. . . . With this substantial treatment, Stossel has done justice to himself and his subject. The Daily Telegraph (London) An extraordinary literary performance. . . . In an age inundated by memoirs and psychic self-help books, My Age of Anxiety is the rare memoir that tells an entirely compelling story, and the rare self-help book that really helps. You, and many thousands of readers along with you, will laugh until you cry. Bookforum

Author Information

SCOTT STOSSEL is the editor of The Atlantic and the author of Sarge: The Life and Times of Sargent Shriver. His articles and essays have appeared in The Atlantic,The New Yorker, The New Republic, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and many other publications. He lives with his family in Washington, D.C.

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