Overview

The Becoming is a brutal account of mental illness by a woman who doesn't believe in mental illness. As the author embarks on a PhD at the University of Oxford, a lifetime of addiction, eating disorders, and trauma culminates in an explosive hospital stay that sees her achieve liberation through psychosis. Her journey from terror to acceptance is grueling, and she makes meaning of it by weaving reflexive narrative with classic and nascent scholarship. Part phenomenological recounting, part social critique, the text disrupts biomedical approaches to altered states by exploring their emancipatory potential. It also illuminates how conventional mental health treatment pathologizes human suffering. In doing so, The Becoming contributes to anti-psychiatry and Mad studies projects, each asking, ""What does it mean to be normal?"" and ""Should we be sane in an insane world?""

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9781771338134

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Reviews

Gritty and courageous. Powerfully written. A compelling read. --Helen Humphreys, author of The Evening Chorus Vivid and at times lyrical in its storytelling, this memoir is a thought-provoking expose and politicization of madness. It is clearly written and highly readable yet provides a depth of analysis not often read outside academic texts. Nicole Luongo's The Becoming stands as an important contribution to both the field of Mad studies and to autobiography as craft. --Brenda LeFrancois, University Research Professor at Memorial University and co-editor of Mad Matters The Becoming is a fast-paced narrative that dives headlong into what it means to live while oscillating between states of being variously described as 'eating disorders, ' 'mental disorders, ' and 'substance use disorders.' Luongo's memoir digs beneath diagnostic labels to portray life at the edge of life and death in a virtuoso performance of autobiographical writing that reframes the meaning of success and failure, loyalty and betrayal. --Dr. Richard A. Ingram

Gritty and courageous. Powerfully written. A compelling read. -Helen Humphreys, author of The Evening Chorus Vivid and at times lyrical in its storytelling, this memoir is a thought-provoking expose and politicization of madness. It is clearly written and highly readable yet provides a depth of analysis not often read outside academic texts. Nicole Luongo's The Becoming stands as an important contribution to both the field of Mad studies and to autobiography as craft. -Brenda LeFrancois, University Research Professor at Memorial University and co-editor of Mad Matters The Becoming is a fast-paced narrative that dives headlong into what it means to live while oscillating between states of being variously described as 'eating disorders, ' 'mental disorders, ' and 'substance use disorders.' Luongo's memoir digs beneath diagnostic labels to portray life at the edge of life and death in a virtuoso performance of autobiographical writing that reframes the meaning of success and failure, loyalty and betrayal. -Dr. Richard A. Ingram In her book Nicole Luongo mixes autobiographical reflection with academic analysis about her experiences of madness, addiction and support systems, or lack thereof. She comes across as neither a forlorn saint nor a hapless victim but instead as someone trying to figure out what is going on around her and inside her mind while coming to terms with her own tumultuous life. The thoughts that cascade throughout the frenetic pace of this book reflect on homelessness, addiction, relationships, suicide, psychiatry, the academy and what to do next. Her work raises more questions than answers about meanings of madness, self-care and the need for supports outside the medical model of mental illness. As such, prepare to be confronted as much as to be consoled about the place of mad people in contemporary society. -Geoffrey Reaume, Critical Disability Studies, York University

"""Gritty and courageous. Powerfully written. A compelling read."" -Helen Humphreys, author of The Evening Chorus ""Vivid and at times lyrical in its storytelling, this memoir is a thought-provoking exposé and politicization of madness. It is clearly written and highly readable yet provides a depth of analysis not often read outside academic texts. Nicole Luongo's The Becoming stands as an important contribution to both the field of Mad studies and to autobiography as craft."" -Brenda LeFrançois, University Research Professor at Memorial University and co-editor of Mad Matters ""The Becoming is a fast-paced narrative that dives headlong into what it means to live while oscillating between states of being variously described as 'eating disorders, ' 'mental disorders, ' and 'substance use disorders.' Luongo's memoir digs beneath diagnostic labels to portray life at the edge of life and death in a virtuoso performance of autobiographical writing that reframes the meaning of success and failure, loyalty and betrayal."" -Dr. Richard A. Ingram ""In her book Nicole Luongo mixes autobiographical reflection with academic analysis about her experiences of madness, addiction and support systems, or lack thereof. She comes across as neither a forlorn saint nor a hapless victim but instead as someone trying to figure out what is going on around her and inside her mind while coming to terms with her own tumultuous life. The thoughts that cascade throughout the frenetic pace of this book reflect on homelessness, addiction, relationships, suicide, psychiatry, the academy and what to do next. Her work raises more questions than answers about meanings of madness, self-care and the need for supports outside the medical model of mental illness. As such, prepare to be confronted as much as to be consoled about the place of mad people in contemporary society."" -Geoffrey Reaume, Critical Disability Studies, York University"

Gritty and courageous. Powerfully written. A compelling read. --Helen Humphreys, author of The Evening Chorus Vivid and at times lyrical in its storytelling, this memoir is a thought-provoking expose and politicization of madness. It is clearly written and highly readable yet provides a depth of analysis not often read outside academic texts. Nicole Luongo's The Becoming stands as an important contribution to both the field of Mad studies and to autobiography as craft. --Brenda LeFrancois, University Research Professor at Memorial University and co-editor of Mad Matters The Becoming is a fast-paced narrative that dives headlong into what it means to live while oscillating between states of being variously described as 'eating disorders, ' 'mental disorders, ' and 'substance use disorders.' Luongo's memoir digs beneath diagnostic labels to portray life at the edge of life and death in a virtuoso performance of autobiographical writing that reframes the meaning of success and failure, loyalty and betrayal. --Dr. Richard A. Ingram In her book Nicole Luongo mixes autobiographical reflection with academic analysis about her experiences of madness, addiction and support systems, or lack thereof. She comes across as neither a forlorn saint nor a hapless victim but instead as someone trying to figure out what is going on around her and inside her mind while coming to terms with her own tumultuous life. The thoughts that cascade throughout the frenetic pace of this book reflect on homelessness, addiction, relationships, suicide, psychiatry, the academy and what to do next. Her work raises more questions than answers about meanings of madness, self-care and the need for supports outside the medical model of mental illness. As such, prepare to be confronted as much as to be consoled about the place of mad people in contemporary society. --Geoffrey Reaume, Critical Disability Studies, York University

Author Information

Nicole Luongo is a writer and educator living on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlil̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations (colonially ""Vancouver""). She holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees in sociology from the University of British Columbia and approximately 1/60 of a PhD from the University of Oxford. Her paid and unpaid work has been informed by experiential knowledge and is situated at the intersections of Madness, disability, drug policy, and housing justice. She is figuring out what she likes.

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