Susanna Kaysen
author profile
born
November 11, 1948
gender
female
place of birth
Cambridge, Massachusetts, The United States
website
genre
Biographies & Memoirs, Literature & Fiction
about this author
Susanna Kaysen is an American author.
Kaysen was born and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Kaysen attended high school at the Commonwealth School in Boston and the Cambridge School before being sent to McLean Hospital in 1967 to undergo psychiatric treatment for depression. It was there she was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. She was released after eighteen months. She later drew on this experience for her 1993 memoir Girl, Interrupted, which was made into a film in 1999, her role being played by Winona Ryder.
She is the daughter of the economist Carl Kaysen, a professor at MIT and former advisor to President John F. Kennedy. Her mother, deceased, was sister of architect Richard Neutra. Kaysen also has one si...more
avg rating: 3.57
| 457 reviews
| 5741 ratings
| 8 distinct works
More books by Susanna Kaysen…
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Girl, Interrupted (Paperback) by Susanna Kaysen avg rating 3.59 — 4665 ratings — published 1994 21 editions |
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The Camera My Mother Gave Me (Paperback) by Susanna Kaysen avg rating 3.21 — 174 ratings — published 2002 5 editions |
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Far Afield (Paperback) by Susanna Kaysen avg rating 3.61 — 44 ratings — published 1994 2 editions |
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Girl, Interrupted (Faber and Faber Screenplays) by James Mangold, Lisa Loomer, Susanna Kaysen avg rating 3.49 — 43 ratings — published 2000 |
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Asa, as I Knew Him (Paperback) by Susanna Kaysen avg rating 3.27 — 37 ratings — published 1994 3 editions |
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Seelensprung. Ein Leben in zwei Welten. (Paperback) by Susanna Kaysen avg rating 0.0 — 0 ratings — published 1996 2 editions |
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Lippenbekenntnis. (Hardcover) by Susanna Kaysen avg rating 0.0 — 0 ratings — published 2004 |
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Der Mann ohne Seele. Roman. ( neue frau). by Susanna Kaysen avg rating 0.0 — 0 ratings — published 1988 |
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quotes by Susanna Kaysen
"Suicide is a form of murder - premeditated murder. It isn't something you do the first time you think of doing it. It takes getting used to. And you need the means, the opportunity, the motive. A successful suicide demands good organization and a cool head, both of which are usually incompatible with the suicidal state of mind"
— Susanna Kaysen (Girl, Interrupted)
— Susanna Kaysen (Girl, Interrupted)
tags:
suicide
5 people liked it
"Whatever we call it - mind, character, soul - we like to think we possess something that is greater than the sum of our neurons and that animates us.
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— Susanna Kaysen
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— Susanna Kaysen
"Viscosity and velocity are opposites, yet they can look the same. Viscosity causes the stillness of
disinclination, velocity causes the stillness of fascination. An observer can't tell if a person is silent and
still because inner life has stalled or because inner life is transfixingly busy."
— Susanna Kaysen
disinclination, velocity causes the stillness of fascination. An observer can't tell if a person is silent and
still because inner life has stalled or because inner life is transfixingly busy."
— Susanna Kaysen
