does anyone have any good recommendation for books like the bell jar or catcher in the rye, that's sort of related to social isolation or just all around cynicism? also, any memoirs or stories about rehab (drugs, eating disorders, mental health stuff, etc.) would be interesting too. sort of like the book wasted by marya hornbacher.. i've been reading a lot of books like that but i've run out.

"Go Ask Alice," by Anonymous is a good going-down-with-a-vengence-on-drugs book....notorious for having been publicized as being a true story, when in actuality it was written as anti-drug propaganda.

"The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer" by Jennifer Lynch is mondo-depressing, and also about drugs, as well as prostitution and child molestation. Definitely a good book if you were ever into the TV series.

ummm

Ham on Rye by Charles Bukowski maybe?

Catcher in The Rye is my all time favourite book, and Ham on Rye is my second. hah. Its basically a semi-autobiographical story about Bukowski's childhood, etc. Anything by Bukowski is brilliant though.

You seem to have similar taste as me... so maybe you'll like it? ahha

Franny and Zooey by J D Salinger

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Ask the Dust by John Fante. Trust me.

i must have read about a zillion books like this in my youth. you should definitely read Go Ask Alice.

well, there's Junk by Melvin Burgess (drug addiction), Prozac Nation and More, Now, Again (drug addiction/social isolation) by Elizabeth Wurtzel, Junky by William Burroughs (drugs), Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys (social isolation), Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh (drugs), and Requiem for a Dream by Hubert Selby Jr. (drugs).

Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen. It's very different from the movie, but I think you'd like it. It's all about her time in a psychiatric ward as a teen, so it touches on a bunch of subjects similar to The Bell Jar and Catcher in the Rye... social isolation, depression, disillusionment, all that stuff.

Love this book. I have a signed first edition.

thanks for the suggestions. i've read go ask alice and girl, interrupted already (although i didn't like the latter very much, preferred the movie) but the rest i will look into. i think i'll get trainspotting and ham on rye to start.

I knew you'd say that; remind me to borrow that from you.

'Valley of the Dolls' is really good (a KR staple) if you want a drug-based plotline.

oh yeah, that one's good. i can't believe i forgot to mention it.

That's so cool! I love it too.

the torn skirt - rebecca godfrey
might do the trick..
i really liked it anyway.

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My mind is like a plastic bag.

yeah, ahah remind me to borrow that from you! I still havnt read it.

"Lady Oracle", by Margaret Atwood?
Five pages left for me to finish. Is isn't as dramatic and intense as "The Bell Jar" - but is definately feminine and entertaining.

any thing by Chuck Palahniuk is good....esp invisible monsters and survivor

also Arthur Nersesian...esp the fuckup

i've been meaning to read valley of the dolls for so long. it's one of those books that always gets pushed down my list of books to read though.. my friends reading it now so ill borrow it once she's finished.

also, i'd recommend wasted by marya hornbacher for anyone interesting in these sorts of books. (it's based mainly around her eating disorder but also touches on drug use, sex, etc.)

i just read a summary of this. it's looks interesting so i'll have to give it a read

Isolation? Cynicism? There are millions but these are my favorites:

Mrs. Dalloway--Virginia Woolf

Effi Briest--Theodor Fontane

Steppenwolf--Hermann Hesse

The House of Mirth--Edith Wharton

By Grand Central Station, I Sat Down and Wept by Elizabeth Smart

A Taste Of Honey by Shelagh Delaney

I am really into all the kitchen sink dramas. Don't Look Back In Anger and The Birthday party are also good 'uns