The Answer to the Riddle Is Me: A Memoir of Amnesia
Language: English
Published by Houghton Mifflin, 2014
- Hardcover
- Used
Seller: World of Books Inc, Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.World of Books Inc
AbeBooks seller since March 23, 2026
Condition: Used - Good
£ 6.52
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Add to basketItem description from seller
A mesmerizing, unsettling memoir about the ever-echoing nature of identity written in vivid, blooming detail. Gillian Flynn, best-selling author of Gone Girl On October 17, 2002, David MacLean woke up on a train platform in India with no idea who he was or why he was there. No money. No passport. No identity. Taken to a mental hospital by the police, MacLean then started to hallucinate so severely he had to be tied down. He could remember song lyrics, but not his family, his friends, or the woman he was told he loved. His illness, it turned out, was the result of the commonly prescribed antimalarial medication he had been taking. Upon his return to the United States, he struggled to piece together the fragments of his former life in a harrowing, absurd, and unforgettable journey back to himself. [MacLean] is an exceedingly entertaining psychotic . . . [A] raw, honest and beautiful memoir. New York Times A deeply moving account of amnesia that explores the quandary of the self . . . MacLean has written a memoir that combines the evocative power of William Styron s Darkness Visible, the lyric subtlety of Michael Ondaatje s Running in the Family and the narrative immediacy of a Hollywood action film. He reminds us how we are all always trying to find a version of ourselves that we can live with. Los Angeles Times [AU PHOTO] DAVID STUART MACLEAN is a PEN/American Award winning writer. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Ploughshares, and on the radio program This American Life. He has a PhD from the University of Houston and is a cofounder of the Poison Pen Reading Series. …
Seller Inventory # CIN0547519273G
- Title
- The Answer to the Riddle Is Me: A Memoir of Amnesia
- Author
- David Stuart Maclean
- Publisher
- Houghton Mifflin
- Publication year
- 2014
- Condition
- Good
- Binding
- Hardback
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 0547519273
- ISBN 13
- 9780547519272
“Brilliant and painful and hilarious.” —Antonya Nelson
On October 17, 2002, David MacLean “woke up” on a train platform in India with no idea who he was or why he was there. No money. No passport. No identity.
Taken to a mental hospital by the police, MacLean then started to hallucinate so severely he had to be tied down. Soon he could remember song lyrics, but not his family, his friends, or the woman he was told he loved. All of these symptoms, it turned out, were the result of the commonly prescribed malarial medication he had been taking. Upon his return to the States, he struggled to piece together the fragments of his former life in a harrowing, absurd, and unforgettable journey back to himself.
The Answer to the Riddle Is Me, drawn from David MacLean’s award-winning This American Life essay, is a deeply felt, closely researched, and intensely personal book. It asks every reader to confront the essential questions of our age: In our geographically and chemically fluid world, what makes me who I am? And how much can be stripped away before I become someone else entirely?
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From the Back Cover
A mesmerizing, unsettling memoir about the ever-echoing nature of identity written in vivid, blooming detail. Gillian Flynn, #1 New York Times best-selling author of Gone Girl
A gripping medical mystery, a heartwarming personal journey, and a chilling indictment of the commonly prescribed drug that upended MacLean s life but left his superb literary skills intact. Rebecca Skloot, #1 New York Times best-selling author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
MacLean fearlessly explores his journey to the edge of madness and his subsequent return to sanity in an unsettling, sometimes riotous, memoir. Publishers Weekly
What does it mean to be the person you are? How much can be stripped away before you are no longer you? This is a fascinating book that resides in the mind as if you lived it yourself. Robert Boswell, author of Tumbledown
Thoughtful, terribly honest, often funny, and utterly unselfindulgent, this is a riveting work of narrative art. Tony Hoagland, author of What Narcissism Means to Me
A compelling personal account and a frightful caution to physicians and travelers who continue to place their faith in a very dangerous drug. Remington L. Nevin, MD, MPH, Mefloquine expert
David Stuart MacLean is a writer who can break your heart, terrify you, and make you laugh all on the same page. The Answer to the Riddle Is Me is a masterful exploration of the funhouse of identity. Mat Johnson, author of Pym
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World of Books Inc
Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.
AbeBooks seller since March 23, 2026
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Founded in 2002, World of Books is a leading online destination for buying and selling both preloved and new books, committed to making sustainable reading accessible to all. With a mission to help people read more and waste less, World of Books offers a huge range of affordable, high-quality books — giving both new and preloved titles a second life. The company also operates World of Books – Sell Your Books, an easy-to-use platform that allows customers to trade in unwanted books for cash, helping to keep books in circulation while promoting sustainability. As a Certified B Corp, World of Books is driven by a vision to become the world’s largest and most sustainable dedicated online bookstore. The company measures its success through the positive environmental impact it creates, the value it provides to customers, and its ability to operate profitably while supporting its sustainable mission …
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