65 pages • 2 hours read
Elyn R. SaksThe Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2007A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Before You Read
Super Short Summary
The Center Cannot Hold is a memoir about Elyn R. Saks's journey with schizophrenia, detailing her life from the early signs of mental illness in childhood, through her struggles and hospitalizations during her academic years at Oxford and Yale, to her eventual management of the condition. Saks achieves professional success as a professor and legal scholar, marries, and lives a fulfilling life despite her challenges. The book includes discussions of mental health issues, self-harm, and suicide.
Reviews & Readership
Review Roundup
The Center Cannot Hold by Elyn R. Saks is widely praised for its raw and compelling insight into living with schizophrenia. The memoir's clarity and honesty elicit empathy and respect. Some critics feel the narrative occasionally lacks cohesion, but overall, Saks' profound bravery and resilience shine through, making it a powerful read on mental health.
Who Should Read The Center Cannot Hold?
Readers who appreciate powerful memoirs about mental health, particularly those who were moved by Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar or Kay Redfield Jamison's An Unquiet Mind, will be captivated by Elyn R. Saks's The Center Cannot Hold. They are likely interested in psychological struggles, resilience, and the intersection of illness and professional achievement.
RecommendedReading Age
18+yearsBook Details
Psychology
Mental Illness
Health / Medicine
Identity: Mental Health
Identity: Disability
Natural World: Appearance & Reality