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Wish I Could Be There: Notes from a Phobic Life
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Wish I Could Be There: Notes from a Phobic Life Paperback - 2008

by Allen Shawn

In this memoir of enormous bravery, a member of one of New Yorks premier literary families delivers a droll, inquisitive, and poignant examination of his life with agoraphobia.


Summary

In addition to being the son of famous New Yorker editor William Shawn and brother of the distinguished playwright and actor Wallace Shawn, Allen Shawn is agoraphobic-he is afraid of both public spaces and isolation. Wish I Could Be There gracefully captures both of these extraordinary realities, blending memoir and scientific inquiry in an utterly engrossing quest to understand the mysteries of the human mind. Droll, probing, and honest, Shawn explores the many ways we all become who we are, whether through upbringing, genes, or our own choices, creating "an eloquent meditation upon the mysteries of personality and family"* and the struggle to face one's demons.

From the publisher

In addition to being the son of famous New Yorker editor William Shawn and brother of the distinguished playwright and actor Wallace Shawn, Allen Shawn is agoraphobic-he is afraid of both public spaces and isolation. Wish I Could Be There gracefully captures both of these extraordinary realities, blending memoir and scientific inquiry in an utterly engrossing quest to understand the mysteries of the human mind. Droll, probing, and honest, Shawn explores the many ways we all become who we are, whether through upbringing, genes, or our own choices, creating "an eloquent meditation upon the mysteries of personality and family"* and the struggle to face one's demons.

Details

  • Title Wish I Could Be There: Notes from a Phobic Life
  • Author Allen Shawn
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition Reprint
  • Pages 288
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Penguin Books, NY USA
  • Date January 29, 2008
  • Features Bibliography, Index, Price on Product - Canadian, Table of Contents
  • ISBN 9780143113072 / 0143113070
  • Weight 0.43 lbs (0.20 kg)
  • Dimensions 7.36 x 5.8 x 0.51 in (18.69 x 14.73 x 1.30 cm)
  • Ages 18 to UP years
  • Grade levels 13 - UP
  • Library of Congress subjects Shawn, Allen - Health, Agoraphobia - Patients
  • Dewey Decimal Code B

Media reviews

"A harrowing, essential book about the force of fear gone wild in one person's mind and body."
-Chicago Tribune

"Remarkable. A brave, eccentric, and utterly compelling book that's as revelatory and candid as anything ever written by Joan Didion, and as humane and scientifically fascinating as any one of Oliver Sacks's case studies."
-Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times*

"A vividly written combination of memoir and scientific inquiry."
-The New Yorker

Citations

  • New York Times Book Review, 02/17/2008, Page 24

About the author

Allen Shawn is the author of the critically acclaimed Wish I Could Be There and Arnold Schoenberg's Journey. He is a composer and pianist, and has written for the Atlantic Monthly, the Times Literary Supplement, the New York Times Magazine, and other publications. He lives in Vermont and is on the faculty of Bennington College.
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