Sleep Demons: An Insomniac’s Memoir

by Bill Hayes

We often think of sleep as mere stasis, a pause button we press at the end of each day. Yet sleep is full of untold mysteries—eluding us when we seek it too fervently, throwing us into surreal dream worlds when we don’t, sometimes even possessing our bodies so that they walk and talk without our conscious volition. Delving into the mysteries of his own sleep patterns, Bill Hayes marvels, “I have come to see that sleep itself tells a story.”

An acclaimed journalist and memoirist—and partner of the late neurologist Oliver Sacks—Hayes has been plagued by insomnia his entire life. The science and mythology of sleep and sleeplessness form the backbone to Hayes’s narrative of his personal battles with sleep and how they colored his waking life, as he threads stories of fugitive sleep through memories of growing up in the closet, coming out to his Irish Catholic family, watching his friends fall ill during the early years of the AIDS crisis in San Francisco, and finding a lover. An erudite blend of science and personal narrative, Sleep Demons offers a poignant introduction to the topics for which Hayes has since become famous, including art, eros, city life, the history of medical science, and queer identity. 
 

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Health, Biography, Gay, Biography Memoir, Queer

369 pages, Paperback

First published February 27, 2001

About the author

The recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in nonfiction, Bill Hayes is a frequent contributor to the New York Times and the author of several books.

A photographer as well as a writer, his photos have appeared in The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Granta, New York Times, and on CBS Evening News. His portraits of his partner, the late Oliver Sacks, appear in the recent collection of Dr. Sacks’s suite of final essays Gratitude.

Hayes has been a Visiting Scholar at the American Academy in Rome, the recipient of a Leon Levy Foundation grant, and a Resident Writer at Blue Mountain Center. He has also served as a guest lecturer at Stanford, NYU, UCSF, University of Virginia, and the New York Academy of Medicine.

Reviews

[Donald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recently there was a column in the NYTimes on insomnia. One of the authors had also written a book so I sought it out. It ends up that this is sort of a gay memoir by a guy who suffers from insomnia. As he is only a few years younger than I, I could relate to his memories of growing up and coming out. As I do most of my reading before falling asleep or at 3:00 a.m. when I have awakened with thoughts of work and cannot go back to sleep, it seemed apropos that I should be reading a book about insomnia! It drags a bit toward the end, but it was an interesting read.

[Sophy H]

OK I'm leaving this one unrated.

I couldn't go any further, the decades old ciggies smell of the book was freaking me out too much and the style of writing was weird, part science book on sleeplessness, part memoir, part who knows what?

Abandoned.

[Becky Loader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hayes' discourse on sleep is just as good as his discourse on blood. As a life-long insomniac, he wanted to find out all he could about sleep, and he did.

I would love to talk to this man over coffee!

[Michael Kerr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hayes memoir - ostensibly about struggling with insomnia - covers his youth, his experiences of coming out, surviving the AIDS crisis, and the science of sleep. Somehow, it all works pretty well, even though it might seem a bit all-over-the-map. The success of the book is a tribute to the quality of writing.

[Paulo Santos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another very good book by Bill Hayes. I particularly love how he weaves his memoirs along with the depictions of sleep disturbances. And how moving and engaging his memoirs of the AIDS epidemic are. As is the narrative of his coming to terms with his sexuality and his life. And his writing is extremely elegant and intelligent. I highly recommend his books.

[Marianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Differnt. One moment sleep science and the next memoir. Overall, pretty interesting.

[cosmo]

dnfing this sadly. I'll probably pick it up again in the future, but i went into this thinking the author would share a lot of his personal struggles with sleep, but it read more like a textbook with a bunch of facts about sleep and that wasn't what i was looking for

[Malynda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the personal interwoven stories from his life and childhood. The last 50 pages were the best-glad I kept going! I almost gave up halfway through.

[Vincent Desjardins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unlike those of us who may have experienced an occasional night of lying awake, minds racing, one thought flowing into the next, Bill Hayes has spent most of his life fighting insomnia. His book effortlessly drifts between topics, blending research on sleep disorders with a candid memoir that examines his adolescent struggles with his sexuality, and his eventual coming out as a gay man. This humorous and engaging look at one man’s efforts to catch a decent nights sleep had me taking a closer look at my own sleep habits, while at the same time, it kept me up reading late into the night.

[Stephen Wershing · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a lot of interesting history of sleep research and disorders in here. At first, mixing them in with the author's biography was interesting. Eventually, though, it wore off and I lost interest near the end of the book.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book because I am a sucker for science/memoir mashups.

[Ale Vergara · Rating 3 out of 5]

De este libro me sorprende su tejido; la destreza con la que una autobiografía se va intercalando con datos sobre el sueño y el insomnio. Los últimos capítulos están llenos de corazones calentándose y huecos en el estómago. Quiero leer más de Hayes.

[Trey Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s more pop science reporting than memoir. Not bad but just not as reflective as I’d hoped it would be.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was expecting it to be more about the author's problems with insomnia. Something I can relate to. Instead it spends many pages on sleep disorders in general. I'd rather read a book that either focused on the personal story or on the scientific research.

On the whole, well-written and readable.

[Krini · Rating 3 out of 5]

been having trouble sleeping and this book isn't helping. interesting book though

[Frederick Bingham · Rating 2 out of 5]

I started this book but did not read it. The last thing I want to read at night before going to bed is a book about insomnia!

[Zhihua · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice story about sleep disorders, homosexuality, AIDS, and love.

[Ian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was hoping for sleep less memoir.

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best memoir I have read so far

[David Swatling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this fascinating debut memoir back in 2001 but hadn’t connected author to his recent writing about Oliver Sacks. Long out of print, it’s been reissued by Chicago Press. Highly recommended!