In My Blood: Six Generations of Madness and Desire in an American Family - Softcover

Sedgwick, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0060521678 ISBN 13: 9780060521677

Publisher: Harper Perennial, 2008

Synopsis

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.

About this title

Review:

"The individual stories are fascinating.With a writer's eye for detail, Sedgwick provides an unflinchingly honest chronicle of a...familial odyssey." -- Booklist

"Compelling family biography.These people are...like characters in a very good novel...[Sedgwick] writes with great confidence." -- Linda Wertheimer, NPR's Weekend Edition

"Articulate, insightful.and substantial.Mr. Sedgwick provides a clear, incisive view of a complicated family." -- Janet Maslin, New York Times

"Astute." -- New York Times

"Ingenious.a lurid inversion of the American Dream...it...makes a larger point about the self protective mechanisms of American democracy." -- Wall Street Journal

"The combination of privilege and affliction is seductive."--Daily News

"Articulate, insightful...and substantial...Mr. Sedgwick provides a clear, incisive view of a complicated family."--Janet Maslin, New York Times

"Astute."--New York Times

"Compelling family biography...These people are...like characters in a very good novel...[Sedgwick] writes with great confidence."--Linda Wertheimer, NPR's Weekend Edition

"Ingenious...a lurid inversion of the American Dream...it...makes a larger point about the self protective mechanisms of American democracy."--Wall Street Journal

About the Author:

John Sedgwick is the author of the novels The Dark House and The Education of Mrs. Bemis, and contributes regularly to Newsweek, GQ, and The Atlantic, among other publications. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0060521678
• ISBN 13: 9780060521677
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 448