Sanity Madness And The Family

Sanity, Madness and the Family (1972) by R.D. Laing & A. Esterson – Sold by Crappy Old Books

Is madness a personal affliction—or a family affair? In this eye-opening classic from radical psychiatrist R.D. Laing and collaborator Aaron Esterson, Sanity, Madness and the Family dives deep into the domestic lives of eleven women diagnosed with schizophrenia. Originally published by Pelican Books in 1972, this groundbreaking work doesn’t ask, “What’s wrong with her?”—it asks, “What’s going on at home?”

With clinical interviews, candid observations, and a flair for challenging psychiatric orthodoxy, Laing and Esterson explore how "insanity" might be a sane response to an insane environment. Part social critique, part psychological investigation, this is a book that raised eyebrows, shook dinner tables, and has never quite stopped being controversial.

Condition: Slightly warped spine (possibly from being hurled across the room during a heated argument about whose fault it really was). Marginalia includes the word “hmm” written in three different pens.

Crappy Old Books: For when your bookshelf isn’t complete without a little chaos.

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