Brain on Fire is the incredible story of a young woman whose mysterious, months-long illness baffled doctors. With a unique voice that blends science and storytelling, Susannah Cahalan chronicles her diagnosis and treatment for a rare autoimmune disorder and her journey back to health. This tale compels readers to ask what is valid and valuable in their lives and contemplate how they would react if faced with a challenging medical crisis.
When twenty-four-year-old Susannah Cahalan woke up alone in a hospital room, strapped to her bed and unable to move or speak, she had no memory of how she’d gotten there. There was a note on her phone from herself—that she was warning herself about something. Doctors diagnosed her with a rare autoimmune disorder. Still, over the next week, she began remembering odd flashes of a past life: weird encounters with people who weren’t there—a homeless man and an ex-boyfriend; an unexplained tattoo on her arm that said “Save Yourself.” Through it all, no one could explain or tell her what would happen next.
Susannah Cahalan recalls being thrown into a state of mystery and confusion in her acclaimed memoir, Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness. An award-winning memoir in its own right, this book has been translated into thirty-seven languages and adapted for the big screen.
About Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness Book
Brain on Fire is an award-winning memoir and instant New York Times bestseller that goes far beyond its riveting medical mystery. It is the powerful account of one woman’s struggle to recapture her identity.
When twenty-four-year-old Susannah Cahalan woke up alone in a hospital room, strapped to her bed and unable to move or speak, she had no memory of how she’d gotten there. Days earlier, she had been on the threshold of a new, adult life: at the beginning of her first serious relationship and a promising career at a major New York newspaper. Now she was labeled violent, psychotic, a flight risk. What happened?
In a swift and breathtaking narrative, Cahalan tells the astonishing true story of her descent into madness, her family’s inspiring faith in her, and the lifesaving diagnosis that nearly didn’t happen.
