Books / Lived experience, memoir & fiction
The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression
Andrew Solomon’s The Noonday Demon combines personal experience, interviews and reporting on depression. This entry identifies the updated 2015 edition.
Book details
Author of listed edition: Andrew Solomon
Edition: Updated paperback edition (2015; first published 2001)
Publisher: Scribner
Edition year: 2015
First published: 2001
Language and origin: English (United States)
ISBN: 9781501123887
Form and genre: Memoir, Fiction & Lived Experience
Level: Introductory
Historical era: 1980–2009 · Evidence-Based, Trauma & Integrative Era
Covers: The author’s experience of depression; Interviews and reporting on treatment and access; Historical, social and cultural perspectives
APA 7th reference: Solomon, A. (2015). The noonday demon: An atlas of depression (Updated ed.). Scribner.
What it is & historical context
Solomon’s book first appeared in 2001 and won the National Book Award for Nonfiction. The updated paperback described here was published in 2015.
Core clinical themes & arguments
The publisher describes a combination of memoir, interviews and reporting on treatment, social circumstances and cultural perspectives. The author’s experience is one account, not a definition of depression for every person.
Clinical practice, reception & legacy
The book discusses a range of approaches and experiences. A personal narrative or interview alone does not determine which treatment will help an individual.
Reader level & educational scope
This introductory entry provides an educational description. Publisher descriptions and an excerpt were consulted; the complete book and paired study were not reviewed. Some material in the book concerns suicide and depression.
Paired academic and clinical scholarship
Paired work: Social Origins of Depression: A Study of Psychiatric Disorder in Women (George W. Brown and Tirril Harris, 1978)
Reference: Brown, G. W., & Harris, T. (1978). Social origins of depression: A study of psychiatric disorder in women. Tavistock Publications.
A study of social circumstances and depression in women. The full book was not reviewed; this entry does not establish a direct research relationship to Solomon’s reporting.
Source-mapped claims and evidence notes
Claim 1: Solomon combines an account of his own depression with reporting and interviews about other people’s experiences. (Based on the publisher description and excerpt; the full book was not reviewed.) [Source 1: Solomon, A. (2015). The noonday demon: An atlas of depression (Updated ed.). Scribner.]
Claim 2: The updated edition adds discussion of treatments and other developments. (The publisher identifies the 2015 paperback and describes its added chapter.) [Source 1: Solomon, A. (2015). The noonday demon: An atlas of depression (Updated ed.). Scribner.]
Sources and inspection notes
Solomon, A. (2015). The noonday demon: An atlas of depression (Updated ed.). Scribner.
Supports: Publisher identifies the 2015 updated paperback, ISBN and added chapter; the full book was not reviewed.
National Book Foundation. The noonday demon: An atlas of depression.
Supports: Award record identifies the 2001 National Book Award for Nonfiction.
Fayetteville Public Library. The noonday demon: Catalogue record.
Supports: Catalogue lists the 2015 paperback and ISBN, checked against the publisher record.
Supports: Publisher record for the related study; the full book was not reviewed.