This was a beautifully written reflection on unhealthy patterns in relationships and how the authors past contributed to her choices in partners. I’ve seen some other reviewers interpret this as an attack on men, but I personally did not feel that way. It seemed to me that the author simply wanted men to recognize their innate privilege and let that inform their actions. This was on track to be a five star read for me until the end. She seemed to be resentful of some of the mental health providers that were caring for her when their opinion of her diagnosis differed from her own. That, in my opinion, doesn’t always indicate sexism or misogyny as I experience this with patients of both sexes frequently. She seemed to interpret this as an attack on her for being female rather than a difference of opinion. She also took offense to common language that is used in mental health documentation, such as “patient denies” and seemed to think that this was an attack on her personally. I saw where she was coming from but as a mental health professional myself I also recognized issues with this. For anyone interested, we phrase it that way for liability purposes (for male and female pts) because all we have to go off of is what the patient reports. It’s not personal or any kind of attack. Overall, a very solid book and I could empathize with her but I took off a star for the last bit which was a bit uninformed.

I really wished I liked this more. I think the book misses the mark with the focus on men: instead, we get an obfuscated view of the woman herself, which is what I was hoping to learn more about in Men Have Called Her Crazy.

An early copy of this book was sent to me by NetGalley for review.

I will start with an unpopular sentence: I had no clue who Anna Marie Tendler was/is before I read this book. What attracted me to this book was the idea of a person checking herself into a psychiatric hospital.

I wanted to know what could possibly drive somebody to that point. To think that anybody or anything outside of a psych hospital was not going to be good enough.

And well, all I can say is WOW! I don't know how one person can have so much tragedy in their life, but also it seems like most of it steamed from the same person, or maybe people? A parent, and her choice in partners? Because let's face it, we are each responsible for whom we choose to share our lives with. Whether that be to leave a home we no longer wish to be in, to avoid breaking somebody's heart, or because it is easier to rely on somebody else financially than to venture out on our own.

I believe that Tendler faced a truly awful time when she was ready to leave the hospital and the therapist she had been seeing for years and trusted seemed to all of a sudden turn on her. I cannot imagine what that may have felt like for somebody in such an already vulnerable spot. I was glad that the other hospital staff came to her rescue, lift her up, and build her back up. I believe that without that she may have found herself worse than when she arrived there. And without the knowledge that she needed to extend her stay at the hospital, then who knows what may have happened.

I know that anxiety and self-harming are real-life issues that Tendler struggled with, but question still stands: exactly how much blame can we place on others before we have to wonder exactly how much is within our own control?

The moment I heard that Anna Marie Tendler was writing a memoir I knew I needed to read it, probably for the same reason many others were interested as well, but months later when the book finally came out it blew be away for reasons I didn't even consider. Tendler's memoir is searing and timely, beautiful and difficult. Her writing and observations are raw and honest and I loved every moment I got to spend with her.

I highly recommend this book is you enjoyed "No One Tells You This" by Glynnis MacNicol, "Grief Is for People" by Sloane Crosley, or "Make It Scream, Make It Burn" by Leslie Jamison.

“Here is the thing about men lying to women while telling them they are crazy or overreacting. The lying, the underplaying on their side, makes us doubt our intuition and intelligence, so eventually when suspicions are confirmed, when we find out we have been correct all along, we do go batshit fucking crazy. And it is warranted.” - Anna Marie Tendler, "Men Have Called Her Crazy"

In this book, we get an inside look into the author’s time in an inpatient mental health facility during the pandemic. It feels almost like 2 different books, but I did like what the author was trying to do here. Her analysis of society’s treatment of mentally ill women is good and reflective, but I feel like she was holding back with the same analysis of her own struggles in particular.

An intense, revealing portrait of a life full of trauma, pain, and suffering. I knew that things worked out for the author because I heard her being interviewed on the 10% Happier Podcast, but wasn’t so sure of that while reading the book. By the end she had done the hard work of getting herself out of the same repeating cycles of behavior and on to success.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for an ARC of this book.

Well this one really hurt.
There were so many pieces of this memoir that felt familiar and so relatable. I empathized with AMT greatly with her mental health struggles and how they stemmed from her years of growing up. I think it's REALLY important to note that childhood trauma sticks and affects how we are as adults. With that being said, this book isn't an attack on men and I'm exhausted from seeing reviews saying that it is. This memoir is the effects of what specific parenting styles will do to someone's psyche and how those effects manifest later in life.
Because of AMT's self-esteem troubles & growing experiences, she tended to gravitate towards the one thing that was familiar territory to her; a person who wasn't good for her mental health. Even though this territory is painful and unhealthy, it's also a comfort because of the familiarity.
I thought this was an incredibly thoughtful and heartfelt book. I loved how she took us on her journey of her life and especially noted how she had changed over the years with her self-help/encouragement of friends and family. One of my favorite things she wrote about was how one of her doctors told her to follow her intuition and to stop the self-doubt, 'if something feels off, it probably is' sort of thing.
This memoir is all about finding yourself and finding how to love yourself despite what you were taught throughout your life. While I felt personally attacked through the majority of it, I absolutely love a personal growth journey.
I can't recommend this book enough to people who may have similar experiences as AMT. This is a heavy read and it will make you cry (or maybe that's just me) but it is such a beautiful self-discovery story.

Insightful and interesting read that’s relatable to a lot of women. Definitely recommend for women of all ages to read. A story of a strong woman and resilience.

I was so excited to start this book but after reading several reviews surrounding it's contents, I was unable to get into this book. This has nothing to do with the writer herself, as the prose was interesting, I was just unable to relate to it.

This was so well written and really devastating. I read this book a very low point in my life, being overly depressed and angry with most men, and it hit soooo much harder for me. I found myself on the page and felt how therapeutic this was for her & myself really. I am glad this isn’t huge celebrity gossip book.

Like so many, I was excited to read this firsthand account of Anna Marie Tendler (especially after the narrative that has formed since the demise of her marriage to JM). I am sad to say, I didn't finish this one. I found it be insufferable and hard to relate to and I was really disappointed.

It feels strange to say I enjoyed a memoir about someone’s mental illness, but Tendler’s documentation of her treatment was riveting. Her self-awareness and vulnerability mostly left me feeling sympathy for her. Then, at other times, I found her insufferable, selfish and obnoxious. The first part of the book moved quickly, but I lost a little bit of interest in the last third. Tendler’s divorce from comedian John Mulaney was underway when they both entered rehab in 2021. I would imagine he played a role in the negative feelings she has toward men but she barely mentions him (signed an NDA perhaps?). She's under no obligation to share her experience but I do think it would have connected the dots, explaining her particularly angry stance toward men.

I found this book very entertaining. Anna narrates her own experience of checking into a psychiatric hospital because of self-harm and suicidal thoughts (definitely check trigger warnings before picking up this book). Anna explains how she really tries to keep being alive and get better, especially after she comes back home into the real life. I found her experiences very relatable and felt very empathetic toward all the people who struggle with mental health and don't come out alive. It was sad and inspiring at the same time. I highly recommend, especially for those who are struggling or have someone in their lives who struggle with mental illness.

I really enjoyed this book so much. There was so much anticipation for <i>Men Have Called Her Crazy</i> when Tendler announced her book deal last year, and a lot of people were hoping for the gruesome details of her very public separation from her ex. Instead what Tendler has created is an introspective work about her own mental health struggles and the simmering anger she feels toward men that have taken advantage of both her and the system. Tendler isn't perfect, nor does she pretend to be in this memoir. Readers looking to paint her as the "good guy" in the divorce will most likely be disappointed as she recounts her struggles to find herself in her teens and twenties. I really enjoyed Tendler's voice and ability to analyze her own flaws. I hope that we'll see more of her writing again soon.

I found Tendler likable, but this book felt like the author didn't have enough distance from the events to reflect on them in a coherent way, and it came across as a bit of a mashup and as a book that probably exists to capitalize on whatever degree of internet fame the writer has. Not BAD, but very forgettable.

I thought this was a beautifully-written memoir. I've seen some criticism of this book being too-heavily about one woman's hatred of men, but so what? This is a memoir of a life shaped by the daggers men have flung this ONE woman's way (among so many other of lives weapons). It does not have to, and should not, speak to everyone, but it spoke to me. I'm deeply grateful to Tendler for telling this patient, personal story.

thank you to the publisher for the early copy and happy belated pub day to AMT! if you are going into this expecting to find some expose that tears john mulaney apart, you will simply be disappointed as the man is never mentioned by name and only exists in the shadows of anna’s story.

this story has a lot going on, simply put. anna bravely puts to words what suicidal ideation and debilitating anxiety feels like for a person, something that is truly not an easy task. anna weaves stories of adolescence and young adulthood throughout her time at a psychiatric facility, which allows the reader to see her as a fully rounded individual. i do wish there was some more discussions on the psychiatrist industry and the problems that come when the industry has basically refused to evolve since the 1950s as i felt AMT just grazed this topic. at the end of the day, this was a book she felt she needed to write and i’m really glad she had this outlet.

i don’t have the proper words to describe how “men have called her crazy” impacted me, despite its faults.

in a pointed and classy move, tendler avoids mentioning her recognizable ex-husband by name and eschews any salacious details, keeping the focus on her. while i admit i was waiting for any nugget of gossip, i think this choice was the right one. by doing so, tendler takes the space in her own right, avoiding allowing her ex-husband to co-opt any more of her life. after living through my own ex-lover’s betrayal and twisting of the knife, i empathize deeply with tendler, and am in awe of how she managed to forge ahead and carve out her own niches. i’m still working on that myself. that being said, tendler still feels lost in her own narrative, and hasn't had the time or distance to come to terms with everything that has happened. as a result, this book ends up feeling unfinished, and would have instead benefited from being the original photography book with vignettes that i heard was originally proposed.

When requesting this book, I expected a deep-dive into the psyche of a woman who has been thrust into the public eye due to her connection to a man. I had hoped, and was encouraged by the title of this book, that Tendler would examine the ways in which she has been depicted and discussed in the media, and the impact such treatment has had upon her. This book is not that. It is not nearly as thoughtful as I had hoped, and lacked a significant amount of self-awareness that is desperately needed when writing a book of this variety. I found it hard to get through this book, and wouldn't recommend it to anyone who isn't independently a fan of Tendler.

This one just did not work for me even though I love memoirs about mental health. The book read mostly as a retelling of relationships and her current stay in a psychiatric facility but didn’t do much more than that. I couldn’t get myself invested and was bored while reading. It also rubbed me the wrong way to keep saying “fucking men” but then talking so much about men and how they’re centered in her life.