The Camera My Mother Gave Me: A Memoir

Susanna Kaysen, who wrote about her teenage depression in the bestseller Girl, Interrupted, now takes on another taboo: her vagina-which suddenly and inexplicably starts to hurt. And neither Kaysen's cheery gynecologist, nor her internist, nor a laconic "vulvologist" has the cure. An alternative health nurse suggests direct application of tea, baking soda, and boric acid. Others recommend novocaine, oatmeal, "bio-feedback," and anti-depressants. Nothing works. As sex becomes more and more painful, Kaysen's relationship with her boyfriend disintegrates and she turns to her best friends, her wicked sense of humor, and finally wry self-reflection to get herself through.

Using this unusual lens, Kaysen challenges us to think in new ways about the centrality and power of sexuality. The Camera My Mother Gave Me is an unexpected and revelatory book from one of our most candid, insightful and consistently surprising writers.



Author: Susanna Kaysen
Publisher: Vintage
Published: 10/08/2002
Pages: 160
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.38lbs
Size: 8.18h x 5.18w x 0.45d
ISBN13: 9780679763437
ISBN10: 0679763430
BISAC Categories:
- Biography & Autobiography | Women
- Biography & Autobiography | Memoirs
- Literary Criticism | General

About the Author
Susanna Kaysen is the author of the novels Far Afield and Asa, As I Knew Him and the memoir Girl, Interrupted. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.