Sunday, September 22, 2024

Review of You Are Not a Stranger Here by Adam Haslett

This book review was written by Eugene Kernes   

Book can be found in: 
Genre = Novel
Collection = You Are Not a Stranger Here by Adam Haslett
Intriguing Connections = Ways To Help Oneself and Life Lessons


Watch Short Review

Review

Is This An Overview?

There are a variety of mental health problems that someone can face.  States of mind that makes the person feel isolated, alone, a stranger to everyone around them.  No one else can understand what the person is going through.  The person is in a state of mind that makes it difficult to connect with, makes their thoughts and behavior strange to others.  This is a book sharing a diverse set of people with various mental health problems.  To show that there are others who are going through mental health problems of their own.  To show that a person can find others, that the person is not a stranger to these characters.  Not a stranger within these pages. 

 

Caveats?

This is a collection of various short stories, which have mixed qualities.  Sometimes the short stories can bring an understanding of what other people are going through, sometimes more details would be advisable.  The stories show a variety of ways people resolve their problems, which are based on real choices, but there are some resolutions that are not advisable.  Better to seek help, then use the characters methods.  


Questions to Consider while Reading the Book

•What is the raison d’etre of the book?  For what purpose did the author write the book?  Why do people read this book?
•What are some limitations of the book?
•To whom would you suggest this book?
•Why would a person feel like a stranger? 
•Why is a person not a stranger?
•What are the represented mental health problems?
•How do the characters respond to what is happing to them?
•What are the represented resolutions to mental health problems? 


Book Details
Edition:                   First Anchor Books Edition
Publisher:               Anchor Books [Random House]
Edition ISBN:         0385509529
Pages to read:          237
Publication:             2003
1st Edition:              2002
Format:                    Paperback 

Ratings out of 5:
Readability    4
Content          2
Overall          2