― Samantha, Thursday, 21 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― katie, Thursday, 21 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
Not read anything else of hers by the way but now I am so NOT inspired.
― Sarah, Thursday, 21 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
Liz is the new Peggy Lee! "Is that all there is? Is that all there is to the collapse of two skyscrapers and the murder of 3,000 people a few blocks from where I live? Then let's keep daaaaancing." I don't know, those quotes were so fabulously idiotic, they're the best thing I've ever read by her.
― Arthur, Thursday, 21 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― N., Thursday, 21 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Ally, Thursday, 21 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Erin, Monday, 25 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 25 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― selle harrow, Wednesday, 27 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
[Judge]: (*sentences EW to a lifetime of dispensing free meals at soup kitchens, thus prospect of noticing others less fortunate causing her to throw herself from 12th story window. Spontaneous celebrations erupt in the streets. Day is declared an international holiday and exceeds all others in popularity. People buy each other EW Day ties and Salad Shooters, which are then immediately returned...*)
― Xerxes, Wednesday, 27 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Marc Snyder, Monday, 4 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Tom, Monday, 4 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
Out of curiosity, how many of your friends still talk to you?
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 4 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― N., Monday, 4 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― sundar subramanian, Monday, 4 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Norman Phay, Monday, 4 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
So, does this work? I've never been seriously depressed or addicted to anything but cigarettes. I tried reading Prozac Nation once and couldn't stand it. So the theory holds up so far. Mind you, I never got anything out of The Bell Jar either.
Hmm.... I do this. But I still thought I was happy! Maybe I'm just deluding myself.
(Do not feel obliged to respond.)
Nuttin special.
― Kevlin Metricious, Tuesday, 5 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Sarah F, Tuesday, 12 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
Well I think the rest of this thread answers your question, Sarah.
― N., Tuesday, 12 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― mari, Friday, 15 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
Yeah, I do. Perhaps it's because I was in the hospital from 7 MAR 2002 to 13 MAR 2000 for major depression that was ultimately diagnosed as bipolar II.
Perhaps it's because my ex-girlfriend who broke up with me right after valentine's day weekend had recommended "Prozac Nation" to me long ago. I didn't have any interest in reading it... which is to say I was scared of reading it. The night she and her boyfriend took me to the hospital (and you must remember I was not in the best of states) I asked her to bring me the book to read. Once I was in a state to read, the book did not leave my hands and the nurses kept having to make me put the book down every time they wanted to have a group. It's the only book I've ever read that's ever touched me, except that might change because I'm reading "More, Now, Again" right now and it seems like its geting at what "Prozac Nation" only hinted about her.
Perhaps it's because when I read her books I feel like I'm closer to someone who understands and can express what I can not. Which is truly a talent and truly brave.
And perhaps it's because I think if I actually had a conversation with her she might say many things but I don't think she'd say "Gottcha."
So yes, I like her.
And btw, you should remember one thing. Both Elizabeth Wurtzel and I are sick. Or am I the only person who still thinks mental illness IS an illness?
― gerald, Saturday, 16 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Queen G, Saturday, 16 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― mark s, Saturday, 16 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
And no depressed person I've ever known would've made those idiotic comments about the WTC. I think that reveals a huge flaw in her personality that goes way beyond the sort of clinical depression that others experience.
― xwerxes, Saturday, 16 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
One of the probs of depression is surely that, absent a major life tragedy as, well, "hook", its proximate reasons in any given person can actually SEEM (ie to them) trivial, hence the (possibly) damaging stiff-upper-lip/keeping-it-in syndrome... and then it gets (medically) worse not better. I think one thing I got from PN was that telling myself that my reasons for depression were trivial rubbish (so snap out of it, you idiot) actually meant i hadn't yet grasped the nature of depression (which is that the reasons you give are rarely the actual reasons).
It's been so long since I've read PN I don't think I could give a coherent critique of it. I hadn't even noticed her in years, until she started flapping her lips about how beautiful the WTC's collapse was, so I think I'm just feeling some residual frustration that someone who's so often painted as a spokesperson for people my age should be such an idiot.
― Queen G, Sunday, 17 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Ally, Monday, 18 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― mark s, Monday, 18 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
I just finished More, Now, Again.
I do like EW. I think people look at that statement with a preconcieved notion in their mind. I think people approach her writing with a preconceived idea in mind. All of this is fine so far as it goes.
I think the point is that we approach everything with our own set of bias. If you've never gone through what EW has gone through I don't think you're in a position to say anything about her life. More to the point, if you don't have a fairly similar make up mentally to her then I don't think it's possible for you to have any real sympathy and especially no understanding of her.
It seems to me that from Prozac Nation to More, Now, Again, which are the two books specifically dealing with her life, EW goes from one level of reaching for valadation (Prozac Nation) to an entirely different level in M, N, A.
Both of her autobiographical books are pleas. It's not until she gets to the level of honesty (damn near total, if not total) that she does in M, N, A that she finally displays her real plea.
More, Now, Again reads like one big love letter. It is EW at her most honest and totally exposed, asking for someone to love her despite all the ugliness.
To me that's damn brave.
And not something that's going to appeal to most folks.
― gerald, Monday, 18 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
What exactly is it you're disagreeing with?
As it happens a lot of people here have gone through experiences of addiction and mental illness - some choose to write about it, others don't. Some like EW, others don't. The mistake you're making is to think that because you've found a book you can empathise with and learn from - which is fantastic - anyone who can't empathise with it has no right to criticise it. That's not true - they have no right to criticise your liking of it, which is different surely.
― Tom, Monday, 18 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
I mean, who even writes like this?
I am a free spirit. I do not know any other way to be. No one else seems to live as I do. In a world gone wrong, a pure heart is dangerous.
― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Tuesday, 8 January 2013 15:29 (eleven years ago) link
in fairness, there's nothing wrong with the WAY that is written; it's the sentiment that is off-putting
― Solange Knowles is my hero (DJP), Tuesday, 8 January 2013 15:30 (eleven years ago) link
I want everyone to try as hard as I do to please be gorgeous, because it's not that hard, girls. Looking great is a matter of feminism. No liberated woman would misrepresent the cause by appearing less than hale and happy.
LOLWUT
― this will surprise many (Nicole), Tuesday, 8 January 2013 15:30 (eleven years ago) link
OTOH that first sentence Nicole just quoted is constructed terribly
― Solange Knowles is my hero (DJP), Tuesday, 8 January 2013 15:31 (eleven years ago) link
teenage girls in the 70s is the correct answer
― screen scraper (m coleman), Tuesday, 8 January 2013 15:47 (eleven years ago) link
True. What I really mean is, who even thinks like this?
― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Tuesday, 8 January 2013 15:50 (eleven years ago) link
xp m coleman otm
http://d188rgcu4zozwl.cloudfront.net/content/B00A7IOVDC/images/1570583990.jpg
― REBEL YELL FOR HUGS (Austerity Ponies), Tuesday, 8 January 2013 15:51 (eleven years ago) link
--bob marley
― mookieproof, Tuesday, 8 January 2013 15:54 (eleven years ago) link
In a world gone wrong ... a pure heart is dangerous!
This spring, Anna Paquin IS Elizabeth Wurtzel
in
FREE SPIRIT
― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Tuesday, 8 January 2013 15:57 (eleven years ago) link
FREE SPIRIT I CRY A LOT
― REBEL YELL FOR HUGS (Austerity Ponies), Tuesday, 8 January 2013 16:16 (eleven years ago) link
I should probably track down a copy of Prozac Nation just to satisfy my circa-2002 curiosity/Ricci-crush.
― Kiarostami bag (milo z), Thursday, 10 January 2013 07:14 (eleven years ago) link
haha the correct answer is that jean-jacques rousseau is a teenage girl in the 1770s
― j., Thursday, 10 January 2013 07:45 (eleven years ago) link
huh learn something every day. is j-j r responsible for this chesnut too
http://winterlyrics.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/not-meant-to-be.png
― screen scraper (m coleman), Thursday, 10 January 2013 13:06 (eleven years ago) link
^^on every late 1970s female college dorm room wall ever
― screen scraper (m coleman), Thursday, 10 January 2013 13:07 (eleven years ago) link
I lost lots of helium balloons that way...
― Mark G, Thursday, 10 January 2013 13:23 (eleven years ago) link
its funny how she gets all up on finance for ruining new york and then shes... a lawyer
― lag∞n, Sunday, 13 January 2013 16:49 (eleven years ago) link
i mean she did the thing every ambitious directionless person does and went to law school and somehow tries to paint it as an act of pure fuck up love, lady youre not lost youre doin the same shit as everyone else
― lag∞n, Sunday, 13 January 2013 16:51 (eleven years ago) link
lol i just read this
it was pretty good
had to just scan the last third, it kinda dragged
"If you need somebody, call my nameIf you want someone, you can do the sameIf you want to keep something preciousYou got to lock it up and throw away the keyIf you want to hold onto your possessionDon't even think about meIf you love somebody, set them free"
-Jean-Jacques Rousseau
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 13 January 2013 18:25 (eleven years ago) link
wurtzel's prutzels
― buzza, Sunday, 13 January 2013 18:31 (eleven years ago) link
i always think wurtzel is the author of the popular wurtzel-bat series.
― Philip Nunez, Sunday, 13 January 2013 18:33 (eleven years ago) link
" I like Mumford & Sons a lot, but I don’t own any complete albums. But maybe that just proves I am more of the times than I care to admit"
http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-arts-and-culture/music/128313/in-bed-with-bob-dylan
― buzza, Tuesday, 9 April 2013 06:25 (eleven years ago) link
http://theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2013/04/i-refuse-to-be-a-grown-up/274918/
― buzza, Friday, 12 April 2013 20:03 (eleven years ago) link
I used to do cocaine and go running; now I just go running.I used to do cocaine and go running; now I just go running.I used to do cocaine and go running; now I just go running.
― johnny crunch, Friday, 12 April 2013 20:07 (eleven years ago) link
how to not grow up: stop doing drugs, go to law school, exercise
― lag∞n, Friday, 12 April 2013 21:34 (eleven years ago) link
how to not be self involved: submit yr inner monologue for publication
Nothing is more bracing than not being concerned about what other people think. I have no idea why anyone cares. Trust me: No one is looking. I know: I am looking. People are self-involved. They are all waiting for you to ask about how gifted their kids are. I wish people were judging each other a great deal more, and more carefully, but they are not. Knowing this, I have no trouble being myself. It works well. I will die screaming.
― lag∞n, Friday, 12 April 2013 21:35 (eleven years ago) link
dear EW, can you hear me rolling my eyes?
― beach situations (Austerity Ponies), Tuesday, 16 April 2013 18:12 (eleven years ago) link
I like how she doesnt care about what people think about her being obsessed about what other people think. It's an intriguing paradox thats at the center of all her recent work.
― authentically inauthentic (Pat Finn), Tuesday, 16 April 2013 19:16 (eleven years ago) link
'intriguing'
― mookieproof, Tuesday, 16 April 2013 19:41 (eleven years ago) link
I just think it's like, an aporia in the logic of her texts that give them a certain tension, or vulnerability, that is mildly compelling, which is why she manages to be both very readable and insanely self-centered.
I fully expect to be the only person who thinks this.
― authentically inauthentic (Pat Finn), Tuesday, 16 April 2013 20:57 (eleven years ago) link
But my answer to the thread title is dud, i guess, but i read her pieces when i stumble across them and think she has a distinctive voice.
― authentically inauthentic (Pat Finn), Tuesday, 16 April 2013 20:59 (eleven years ago) link
more like elizabutt squirtzel
― ienjoyhotdogs, Tuesday, 16 April 2013 21:02 (eleven years ago) link
dude, that pun is the worstzel
― authentically inauthentic (Pat Finn), Tuesday, 16 April 2013 21:43 (eleven years ago) link
From Led Zeppelin to Breaking Bad: The Lamest Generationby Elizabeth WurtzelKids used to take big changes, but the crazy energy of youth seems to have subsided. Elizabeth Wurtzel on why today's youth need to take a page from Led Zeppelin.
― velko, Monday, 30 September 2013 22:13 (ten years ago) link
she suuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks so haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrd
― #fomo that's the motto (Hurting 2), Monday, 30 September 2013 22:21 (ten years ago) link
a page from led zeppelin
― velko, Monday, 30 September 2013 22:22 (ten years ago) link
yeah I read that article it's such fucking terrible shit garbage that it's not even worth engaging individual "points"
― #fomo that's the motto (Hurting 2), Monday, 30 September 2013 22:23 (ten years ago) link
@LizzieWurtzel 20mI am terrified by the cardboard signs beggars now have, like we don't know, and of course we do not. They say too much or not nearly enough.
― polyphonic, Tuesday, 22 April 2014 23:00 (ten years ago) link