7FL3u [Library ebook] In My Blood: Six Generations of Madness and Desire in an American Family Online [7FL3u.ebook] In My Blood: Six Generations of Madness and Desire in an American Family Pdf Free John Sedgwick ePub | *DOC | audiobook | ebooks | Download PDF Download Now Free Download Here Download eBook #369602 in eBooks 2009-10-13 2009-10-13File Name: B000N0WTJC | File size: 62.Mb John Sedgwick : In My Blood: Six Generations of Madness and Desire in an American Family before purchasing it in order to gage whether or not it would be worth my time, and all praised In My Blood: Six Generations of Madness and Desire in an American Family: 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. More Pie, PleaseBy Don CummingsWhat you have here is a full genealogical tour of the Sedgwick family, from the boat that brought them to the shores of our American land of opportunity, to the wild diaspora of Sedgwicks into many careers and fates. These Sedgwicks, one after another, have bared the weight of Theodore, the federalist patriarch who built the "big house" in Stockbridge, MA, along with the insanity of his second wife, Pamela Dwight, who suffered from horrendous mental illness, mostly in the throes of depression. Kyra Sedgwick, the wonderful actress from The Closer has been quoted saying, "There's a lot of mental illness in my family." She should have added, "And it's been going on for centuries. We're exhausted." But this is the thing! They are not exhausted. What is uplifting in this tale is how so many of these Sedgwicks, even the ones given over to bi-polar disease, or general mania, or addiction, have succeeded, triumphantly, to make their marks in the arts, letters and business. John Sedgwick does not hide the family light under any bashful bushel: these are chosen WASPS who are to the Groton-Harvard-Manor born. But so many of them, well, simply went crazy, fell apart, landed in asylums, and who knows what else! The story begins with the author in a state of incredible despair and you do wonder when he will bring himself back to the story to explain what happened to him. He doesn't exactly get back to it. This makes sense. It took him a long time to write this book. Years of research. In the process, much changed. It is difficult for a writer to hang onto that original thrust that begins any project. As in life, there are detours galore that can bring a man far from his destination. But as no Sedgwick I have ever heard quoted has said, "Whatevs!" The ride there is quite informative and peeking into this sometimes brilliant, sometimes insane family is just, somehow, a cool/fun ride. One of the main non-breathing points of the story is the family pie, the graveyard where the dead Sedgwicks are buried in generational concentric circles. It is revisited, throughout, in the physical and the intellectual- emotional realm. It made this reader feel like it would be nice to know where he was going to land once everything was all over on this dirty earthly plain. Also, it gives a reason for anyone to visit Stockbridge, to take a visual bite out of this ambitious-crazy filled pie. Read IN MY BLOOD for fun and information. Then, head to the many other great books written by this articulate, sensitive, intelligent writer who, like the Sedgwicks before him, just makes the United States a bit more enjoyable to live in.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. I hesitate to criticize the writing in memoirs as most ...By ayre1I hesitate to criticize the writing in memoirs as most of the time the content is the more interesting aspect of the book and would be the reason I read the book in the first place. However, this author is a professional writer with a decent command of words and sentence structure. I think the writing style he uses would work well in a novel but never gets truly going in a 'memoir' type of work. Also, I don't care to read writing that is overly under-dramatic (if that makes sense?) in such a self-aware manner. I think by dropping the self-analysis throughout the book - maybe a few chapters of it here or there - and telling each relative's story in short-story form with all the ambiance - this book could be quite something. As it is, the longer I read it, the less interest I have in this family that, with the exception of amassing land and wealth during the beginning of the United States history, has done nothing substantial beyond producing eccentrics.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Wonderful, important bookBy Susan K. NoelThis is, without a doubt, one of the most fascinating books I've ever read. In digging into the past of his own family, John Sedgwick somehow ends up reaching out to anyone who has ever had any kind of struggle with mental or emotional problems. It reads like an exciting novel, and if you're anything like me, you will come to love some of these characters, and will remember them. I first read this book when it came out, and one of the characters (wrong term -- they are real people of course) stuck in my mind, I could not forget him. This led me to read the book again, years later.And when I did I discovered why it had stayed in my mind, as I have some of the same issues that plague the Sedgwick family. Believe me, the beautiful Edie is not the only memorable person in this family. This is a great book. Sedgwick proves himself a wonderful writer, with compassion, depth, and rigorous perception. While working on his second novel, John Sedgwick spiraled into a depression so profound that it very nearly resulted in suicide. An author acclaimed for his intimate literary excursions into the rarified, moneyed enclave of Brahmin Boston, he decided to search for the roots of his malaise in the history of his own storied family—one of America's oldest and most notable. Following a bloodline that travels from Theodore Sedgwick, compatriot of George Washington and John Adams, to Edie Sedgwick, Andy Warhol's tragic muse, John Sedgwick's very personal journey of self-discovery became something far greater: a spellbinding study of the evolution of an extraordinary American family. From Publishers WeeklyIn this overwritten family biography–cum–memoir, novelist Sedgwick (The Education of Mrs. Bemis) traces in great detail multiples generations of his wealthy yet ill-starred family. Beginning with his own near suicide, Sedgwick takes the unrelenting trials and tribulations of his family and tries to tie them to some parallel history of the U.S. It doesn't work. Reaching back to the late 18th century, the family Sedgwick was in the upper tier of New England society. In Sedgwick's telling, Theodore Sedgwick, a prosperous attorney, set the family off to its posh but difficult history by swindling an old Native American woman out of her property in western Massachusetts. Building a grand country home—a home that would become both family redoubt and scene of some intergenerational depravities—Theodore suffered from what would now be diagnosed as depression. In fact, depression and madness dog the coming generations most famously in the incarnation of Edie Sedgwick, Warhol superstar, world-class drug addict and celebrity suicide. This memoir is not without its pleasures. Sedgwick has a keen eye for detail and a voracious appetite for family lore and history (Catherine Maria Sedgwick was a popular mid-18th-century author; Kyra Sedgwick is an actress). The finely honed prose glides along effortlessly; it just doesn't add up to much. (Jan.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.From BooklistThe acclaimed novelist of The Dark House (2001) and The Education of Mrs. Bennis (2002) turns his attention inward and back through time as he attempts to unravel the mystery of his own psychologically and spiritually devastating bouts of depression. Alarmed by the depths of his despair and his inability to cope despite a successful career and a loving nuclear family, Sedgwick began to research the decidedly dark history of his distinguished New England family. In addition to an intensive course of psychotherapy, his investigations enabled him to comprehend the roots of his own melancholy. Reaching back through three centuries of seemingly stalwart Sedgwick citizens, he uncovered a pattern of mental illness handed down from one generation to the next. The individual stories are fascinating, and together they provide the context for Sedgwick to deconstruct his own demons. With a writer's eye for detail, Sedgwick provides an unflinchingly honest chronicle of an agonizing personal and familial odyssey. Margaret FlanaganCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved “This reading promises to be an excellent portrait, not just of madness, but of one of the major American families.” [7FL3u.ebook] In My Blood: Six Generations of Madness and Desire in an American Family By John Sedgwick PDF [7FL3u.ebook] In My Blood: Six Generations of Madness and Desire in an American Family By John Sedgwick Epub [7FL3u.ebook] In My Blood: Six Generations of Madness and Desire in an American Family By John Sedgwick Ebook [7FL3u.ebook] In My Blood: Six Generations of Madness and Desire in an American Family By John Sedgwick Rar [7FL3u.ebook] In My Blood: Six Generations of Madness and Desire in an American Family By John Sedgwick Zip [7FL3u.ebook] In My Blood: Six Generations of Madness and Desire in an American Family By John Sedgwick Read Online.