content: When I was sophomore in college, a classmate was a nice, articulate, bright, and beautiful young woman, whocommited a suicide few months later. I always wonderedwhat would drive a privileged young person, with suchbright prospects, to kill him/herself. Ms. Plath'sbook finally gave me a startlingly and shockingly clearportrait of the gradual spiral of despair that culminatesin the ultimate act of self-destruction. Such mentalillness strikes across all social, econmic, racial, andreligiouls boundaries, but rarely has any author beenso candid and courageous in chronicling his/her ownhumiliating and agonizing experiences. It's worth notingthat Ms. Plath died by suicide at the age of 31.I cannot give it five stars, which is reserved for thelikes of Edith Wharton's "Age of Innocence", but it'sa gripping and harrowing must-read for anyone who everwondered about the experience of mental illness.