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The Camera My Mother Gave Me
Susanna Kaysen, who wrote about her teenage depression in the bestseller Girl, Interrupted, now takes on another taboo: her vagina–which suddenly and inexplicably starts to hurt. And neither Kaysen’s cheery gynecologist, nor her internist, nor a laconic “vulvologist” has the cure. An alternative health nurse suggests direct application of tea, baking soda, and boric acid...more
Paperback, 160 pages
Published
October 8th 2002
by Vintage
(first published 2001)
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This book is entirely about Susanna Kaysen's vagina. Seriously. If you're interested, then this is probably a good book for you. I was personally not a fan. (And no, there were no pictures. At least not in the edition I read, anyway.)
not about a camera...
Julie
rated it
Recommends it for:
women with severe vulva issues
Recommended to Julie by:
someone who hates me, obviously
I am trying to remember who suggested I read this book. I want to kick them in their vagina.
I can handle a short book entirely devoted to a woman's vulva. I am completely comfortable with my own and others', and I constantly use words like cunt, pussy, and vulva in a non-derogatory context. I thought I could handle Susanna Kaysen's vag all up in my face for 150 or so pages. WRONG. The only reason I finished it was because it was such a quick, short read and I feel I have more of a ri...more
I can handle a short book entirely devoted to a woman's vulva. I am completely comfortable with my own and others', and I constantly use words like cunt, pussy, and vulva in a non-derogatory context. I thought I could handle Susanna Kaysen's vag all up in my face for 150 or so pages. WRONG. The only reason I finished it was because it was such a quick, short read and I feel I have more of a ri...more
The book is about Kaysen's vagina. Seriously, that's it--her vagina. It hurts. And hurts. And hurts some more. No one knows what's wrong. She tries wacky things like sitting in tea and she tries antidepressants (and a million other things). Nothing really works. The whole book is her complaining about her vagina. It was not interesting to me. It reminded me of the worst (in my opinion) monologue in the Vagina Monolgues--the my vagina is me one. I am more than my vagina; Kaysen is apparently not....more
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This book is about Susanna Kaysen's vagina. It is where I learned about the "your bladder is healthy if you can pee for at least 7 seconds at a time" guideline that literally changed my life. High five healthy nether regions!
Anyone who has had to deal with this painful issue, as I have.. will appreciate what we go though to get a proper diagnoses and treatment and it is nice to know you are not alone
Anyone going into this book expecting it to be simply about a camera is either not very bright, or hasn't done their research. This book, indeed, is not about a camera, at least not in a literal sense.
The explanation of the title comes from an interview with Kaysen:
"It's a line from a Buñuel movie, Viridiana. The movie's about a bunch of hobos and peasant who take over a country mansion that belongs to a rich woman who's been trying to help them. There's a scene in w...more
The explanation of the title comes from an interview with Kaysen:
"It's a line from a Buñuel movie, Viridiana. The movie's about a bunch of hobos and peasant who take over a country mansion that belongs to a rich woman who's been trying to help them. There's a scene in w...more
A fast and satisfying read. Having just come off Wuthering Heights, I was ready for something contemporary and minimal...a "make you think but not too hard" kind of book. This did the trick. Devoting just under 150 pages almost solely to her vagina, (Yes! the vagina! It's ok to talk about it!) Susanna Kaysen hooked me into the frustration and pain of her condition. Women don't pay much attention to their vaginas when they are not "in use"... those of us with good gynaecologic...more
Kaysen tells her story of dealing with pain in an "intimate place" in such a way that you feel like you are sitting with a close friend in a coffee shop somewhere, catching up. She begins with humorous anecdotes, relaying stories in a "she said this and then I said that and then.." way, with breathless enthusiasm. Quotes are presented without quotation marks, because as anyone who has told a story knows, it's never a word-for-word recitation, but rather your own personal in...more
I think we've all had some pain or condition that no doctors have been able to treat and/or diagnose. We've just had to deal with it until it slowly went away. In Susanna Kaysen's case, it happens to be her "down there" region. She's frustrated that she has an inexplicable condition and even more frustrated that her doctors aren't able to do anything for her. On top of all the pain and worrying, she has to deal with a self-centered boyfriend that is insensitive to her pain and can only...more
I don't know if I can say anything that Amber hasn't. A bizarrely tragic and almost macabre story, in a way. At first, I thought that this was just going to be a funny shocking light piece of chick lit. I was wrong. We get a view into a woman's relationship with her vagina, but on the periphery, with her boyfriend and friends.
I'm not sure if it was the author's intention, but the main character is intensely immature. I was convinced at the book's beginning she was in her twenties, b...more
I'm not sure if it was the author's intention, but the main character is intensely immature. I was convinced at the book's beginning she was in her twenties, b...more
In somewhat of a mystery/autobiography, a women relates her experiences with her vagina problems and the many byzantine ways it impacts her life. Talks about how illness can effect who we think we are, our relationships, emotions, and our quality of life. Despite the U.S.'s high level of medical technology, the author's experiences show how elusive finding solutions can be.
I have no idea how this book ended up on my shelf except for the fact that it has a clearance sticker on it and I sometimes randomly purchase discounted books in the hopes I will make myself read more. So I'm guessing years passed and I had no idea that a book about a woman and her vagina was in my reading destiny. The first page is so direct with disgusting (yet certainly true) descriptions that I was instantly captivated to keep reading. Despite my desire to let this book go without finishi...more
Thank goodness this was a freebie from my gym's book exchange. I picked it up thinking the author would chronicle her quest to detemine the cause of intense pain in her female organs culminating in the dicovery that it was some rare genetic condition inherited from her mom. Guess the title is deceiving. The book's description also said it was at times funny. They must have left the funny out of my copy.
Instead, she spends 160 pages whining about why she doesn't like any of the treatments s...more
Instead, she spends 160 pages whining about why she doesn't like any of the treatments s...more
For anyone who's ever had an undiagnosable problem that baffles medical authorities and only seems to worsen with treatment. I haven't actually experienced that, but if I did I would probably like this book even more.
First the title gives you no clue what the book is about. It was an interesting look at a woman's relationship with her body, her sexual self, her vagina.
More than I ever needed to know about one middle-aged woman's vagina problems. 'Nuff said.
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Susanna Kaysen is the kind of author that I can't help thinking I would like if I were ever to meet her in person. I admire her honesty, her dry and often ironic sense of humor, and the concise way she makes a few words say more than most authors could manage in a book three times the length.
This memoir is sharp, witty, purposeful, full of personality, and short enough that I didn't get tired of it... despite what other goodreads reviews of it say. I can only imagine that it's been a...more
This memoir is sharp, witty, purposeful, full of personality, and short enough that I didn't get tired of it... despite what other goodreads reviews of it say. I can only imagine that it's been a...more
Can someone tell me what "The Camera My Mother Gave Me" means? Is this a part of the secret language that women use (don't deny it...I know you do!)?
Graphic, and rather painful story about Kaysen's Vagina (didn't mean to capitalize it, but by the time you're through with this story, you may too). I've never heard of it before, but I pray this is not a common ailment for women. The one question I took from this is why would her boyfriend be so insistent on getting in there onc...more
Graphic, and rather painful story about Kaysen's Vagina (didn't mean to capitalize it, but by the time you're through with this story, you may too). I've never heard of it before, but I pray this is not a common ailment for women. The one question I took from this is why would her boyfriend be so insistent on getting in there onc...more
I found this book a stark and sometimes humorous look at an agonizing chronic pain condition (with which I am all too familiar!). In case anyone's curious as to the title of the book, read Mo B.'s review below.
Ms. Kaysen is referring to vulvodynia: A difficult, sometimes excruciating and devastating condition affecting a woman's vulva, not vagina, specifically. It's just easier to say "vagina" because most of us are not yet comfortable with "vulva." And it d...more
Ms. Kaysen is referring to vulvodynia: A difficult, sometimes excruciating and devastating condition affecting a woman's vulva, not vagina, specifically. It's just easier to say "vagina" because most of us are not yet comfortable with "vulva." And it d...more
All about Susanna Kaysen's vagina. It hurt, she saw a lot of doctors and other experts, nothing helped, her identity was threatened because for her sex is life, her boyfriend kept nagging for sex, they broke up and she missed him, she fell in love with somebody else who didn't love her, she can't get over how her vagina could be mistaken about somebody. That's about it.
As someone with my own cunt issues I was expecting to like this but it was a meaningless bore.
As someone with my own cunt issues I was expecting to like this but it was a meaningless bore.
Really a strange topic for a memoir. The author has terrible vaginal discomfort that no one can explain. For some reason, the book is really interesting. I didn't realize she also wrote Girl, Interrupted - must be that she is just a very talented author. I hope she finally got some help with her health issue. And I hope she never puts up with another terrible boyfriend again like the one in the book.
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This book has NOTHING to do with a camera- yet I found it funny at points as this woman goes through doctors trying to determine what is causing her pain in the most intimate of places. Some vulgarity, and much bluntness. But it made me laugh when I least suspected it as I could imagine some of this really happening to a person.
Did not expect to like this book. It is about her vagina having massive pain and modern medicine's inability to work for her. I know vicariously now what it must be like to have the other sex's problems. It is also funny and candid as it was written by Susanna Kaysen of "Girl, Interrupted" noteriety.
I was kind of disappointed with this book. While it was funny, and very interesting, I found little to no soul in it and the author's narration. The content was definitely interesting, but I feel like this book could have gone much further. I felt it was too short, and too disconnected. Oh well.
Um, Wow. I listened to this book while traveling and, Wow. TOTALLY not what I expected. But good. This is a good story with the theme "To thine own self be true". Not that there's any Shakespeare in it....The title does not match the book at all, but makes sense in a roundabout way.
Likely interesting for most women to read. How often is there a whole book dedicated to a woman's relationship to her vag? And how all the doctors, especially the males, cannot understand it. Even tho it is a short one- I read it in one day. Both funny and tragic.
I want to know what is wrong with her vagina too! I wish that this story continued on until there was a happy ending, but this is real life. At least towards the end she had learned a lot about her self and about the people that she wanted to keep around her.
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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. Sh...more
More about Susanna Kaysen...
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. Sh...more
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