The author offers a look at depression in which he draws on his own battle with the illness and interviews with fellow sufferers, researchers, doctors, and others to assess the complexities of the disease, its causes and symptoms, and available therapies, examining it in personal, cultural, and scientific terms.

Solomon demonstrates both how history is altered by individuals, and how personal identities are altered when governments alter.

The debut novel, first published nearly twenty years ago, from the National Book Award-winning author of The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression and Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity--a luminous and moving evocation of the love between a son and his mother. A finalist for the Los Angeles Times First Fiction prize, A Stone Boat is an achingly beautiful, deeply perceptive story of family, sexuality, and the startling changes wrought by grief, loss, and self-discovery. Harry, an internationally celebrated young concert pianist, travels to Paris to confront his glamorous and formidable mother about her dismay at his homosexuality. Before he can give voice to his hurt and anger, he discovers that she is terminally ill. In an attempt to escape his feelings of guilt and despair over the prospect of her death, he embarks on several intense affairs--one with a longtime female friend--that force him to question his capacity for love, and finally to rediscover it. Part eulogy, part confession, and part soliloquy on forgiveness, A Stone Boat is a luminous evocation of the destructive and regenerative, all-encompassing love between a son and his mother, by America's foremost chronicler of personal and familial resilience.

It is vitally important for medical students and junior doctors to grasp an understanding of ‘real-life medicine’. This innovative book of cases shows how a particular presentation may progress, and the different complications that may arise and emerge over time, which may be missed by the ‘snapshot in time' approach taken by many problem-based volumes. The content reflects the average length of stay for a patient in hospital, in which their situation can change in a multitude of ways, and the management of chronic conditions may also need to be adapted as complications arise. Demonstrates the real bedside experiences that medical students can expect, in whichever simple or complex way that they may present Cases selected from a range of sub-specialties for comprehensive coverage across the curriculum Illustrates the complicated, progressive problems that will be seen while practicing as a doctor with detailed diagrams and diagnostic imagery to aid understanding Shows, with timepoints, how differential diagnoses may change as more information becomes available and new symptoms arise Describes a typical initial hospital stay, and subsequent presentations to the general practitioner and hospital readmission The Authors Andrew Solomon, BM BCH MA(Hons) DM FRCP, is a Consultant Physician, East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust, Stevenage, UK. Julia Anstey, BSc (Hons) MBBS, is a Foundation Doctor, Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, Taunton, UK. Liora Wittner, MBBS BSc, is a Resident in Internal Medicine, Shamir Medical Centre, Be'er Ya'akov, Israel. With contributions from Priti Dutta, MBBS BSc FRCR, Consultant Radiologist, Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.

* Selected as One of the Best Books of the 21st Century by The New York Times * * WINNER of the National Book Critics Circle Award * Books for a Better Life Award * The New York Times Book Review’s 10 Best Books of the Year * This masterpiece by the National Book Award–winning author of The Noonday Demon features stories of parents who not only learn to deal with their exceptional children, but also find profound meaning in doing so—“a brave, beautiful book that will expand your humanity” (People). Solomon’s startling proposition in Far from the Tree is that being exceptional is at the core of the human condition—that difference is what unites us. He writes about families coping with deafness, dwarfism, Down syndrome, autism, schizophrenia, or multiple severe disabilities; with children who are prodigies, who are conceived in rape, who become criminals, who are transgender. While each of these characteristics is potentially isolating, the experience of difference within families is universal, and Solomon documents triumphs of love over prejudice in every chapter. All parenting turns on a crucial question: to what extent should parents accept their children for who they are, and to what extent they should help them become their best selves. Drawing on ten years of research and interviews with more than three hundred families, Solomon mines the eloquence of ordinary people facing extreme challenges. Elegantly reported by a spectacularly original and compassionate thinker, Far from the Tree explores how people who love each other must struggle to accept each other—a theme in every family’s life.

* * * * * * * BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week * * * * * * * 'Andrew Solomon's investigation of many of the most intense challenges that parenthood can bring compels us all to re-examine how we understand human difference. Perhaps the greatest gift of this monumental book, full of facts and full of feelings, is that it constantly makes one think, and think again.' Philip Gourevitch In this seminal new study of family, Andrew Solomon tells the stories of parents who learn to deal with their exceptional children and find profound meaning in doing so. He introduces us to families coping with deafness, dwarfism, Down syndrome, autism, schizophrenia, disability, with children who are prodigies, who are conceived in rape, who become criminals, who are transgender. While each of these characteristics is potentially isolating, Solomon documents repeated triumphs of human love and compassion to show that the shared experience of difference is what unites us. 'Reading Far from the Tree is a mind-opening experience.' Eric Kandel Drawing on interviews with over three hundred families, Solomon documents ordinary people making courageous choices, whether considering prenatal screening for genetic disorders, cochlear implants for the deaf, or gender reassignment surgery. Parents and children are challenged to their limits, but often grow closer as a result; many discover supportive communities of others similarly affected; some are inspired to become activists, celebrating the conditions they once feared. Elegantly reported by a spectacularly original thinker, Far From The Tree explores themes of generosity, acceptance and tolerance - and shows how love for one's children can transcend every prejudice. This crucial and revelatory book expands our definition of what it is to be human. 'A brave and ambitious work, bringing together science, culture and a powerful empathy. Solomon tells us that we have more in common with each other - even with those who seem anything but normal - than we would ever have imagined.' Malcolm Gladwell

First published in The New Yorker, “Solomon tells the story of Peter Lanza, the father of Adam Lanza, the Sandy Hook Elementary shooter. Read it—it’s moving, brave and just profoundly human and sad....There aren’t any answers. And that’s what makes this all so impossible, and Solomon’s journalism so essential” (Salon.com). “Both parents loved Adam. Neither parent imagined or wanted their child’s horrific end. This is why what Peter Lanza did by sharing his story with Andrew Solomon is so important. Lanza’s story fills important gaps in our understanding of how a beloved child became a killer—and reminds us as a society that we have an obligation to help families and children before they find themselves on irreversible paths of violence” (Time).

Part eulogy, part confession, this novel is an intense exploration of a mother/son relationship. Harry, the narrator, is a young, wealthy and talented pianist. He lives in London and New York and, when his mother is found to have cancer, he lives increasingly in the breached world of his family.

In 1991 Andrew Solomon faced down tanks in Moscow with a band of Russian artists protesting the August coup. We find him on the quest for a rare bird in Zambia in 1998, and in Greenland in 2001 researching widespread depression among the Inuit. In 2002 he was in Afghanistan for the fall of the Taliban. He was brought in for questioning in Qaddafi's Libya in 2006. In 2014 he travelled to Myanmar to meet ex-political prisoners as the country fitfully pushed towards freedom. Far and Away tells these and many other stories. With his signature compassion, Solomon demonstrates both how history is altered by individuals, and how personal identities shift when governments change. A journalist and essayist of remarkable perception and prescience, Solomon chronicles a life's travels to the nexus of hope, courage, and the uncertainty of lived experience and tracks seismic shifts - cultural, political and spiritual. He takes us on a magnificent journey into the heart of extraordinarily diverse experiences via intimate, deeply moving stories that reveal and revel in our common humanity.