Susanna Kaysen (born November 11, 1948) is an American author, best known for her 1993 memoir '' Girl, Interrupted''.

Background

Kaysen was born and raised in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston ...

. She is the daughter of Annette (Neutra) and

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are ...

Carl Kaysen, a professor at

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

and former advisor to President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

. Her family is Jewish. Kaysen attended high school at the Commonwealth School in Boston, and

The Cambridge School of Weston The Cambridge School of Weston (also known as CSW or The Cambridge School) is an independent, coeducational high school in Weston, Massachusetts. Currently, the school has 325 students in grades 9 to 12, with approximately 70% day students an ...

, before being sent to

McLean Hospital McLean Hospital () (formerly known as Somerville Asylum and Charlestown Asylum) is a psychiatric hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts. It is noted for its clinical staff expertise and neuroscience research and is also known for the large number of ...

in 1967 to undergo

psychiatric treatment Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psychiatry. Initial psych ...

for depression. While there, she was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. She was released after 18 months. She drew on this experience for her memoir '' Girl, Interrupted'' in 1993, which was adapted into a film; she was portrayed by actress

Winona Ryder Winona Laura Horowitz (born October 29, 1971), professionally known as Winona Ryder, is an American actress. Originally playing quirky roles, she rose to prominence for her more diverse performances in various genres in the 1990s. She has recei ...

. Kaysen has one sister and is divorced. She lived for a time in the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

, upon which experience her novel ''Far Afield'' is based.

Bibliography

*''Asa, As I Knew Him'', 1987, *''Far Afield'', 1990, *'' Girl, Interrupted'', 1993, *''The Camera My Mother Gave Me'', 2001, *''Cambridge'', 2014,

References

External links

Austin Chronicle interview with Kaysen, via the Wayback Machine

Susanna Kaysen author profile at Penguin Random House
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaysen, Susanna 1948 births Living people 20th-century American memoirists American women novelists Writers from Boston People with borderline personality disorder 20th-century American novelists American women memoirists 20th-century American women writers Commonwealth School alumni Novelists from Massachusetts McLean Hospital patients 21st-century American women Jewish American writers