Episode 631: Donald Antrim - One Friday In April: A Story of Suicide and Survival
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A searing and brave memoir that offers a new understanding of suicide as a distinct mental illness.
As the sun lowered in the sky one Friday afternoon in April 2006, acclaimed author Donald Antrim found himself on the roof of his Brooklyn apartment building, afraid for his life. In this moving memoir, Antrim vividly recounts what led him to the roof and what happened after he came back down: two hospitalizations, weeks of fruitless clinical trials, the terror of submitting to ECT\\u2014and the saving call from David Foster Wallace that convinced him to try it\\u2014as well as years of fitful recovery and setback.
One Friday in April reframes suicide\\u2014whether in thought or action\\u2014as an illness in its own right, a unique consequence of trauma and personal isolation, rather than the choice of a depressed person. A necessary companion to William Styron\\u2019s classic Darkness Visible, this profound, insightful work sheds light on the tragedy and mystery of suicide, offering solace that may save lives.