Men Have Called Her Crazy

 Book 32 of my 2025 Reading Challenge

read from March 15 - 16

Men Have Called Her Crazy by Anna Marie Tendler

published 2024

Summary (via the book jacket)

In early 2021, popular artist Anna Marie Tender checked herself into a psychiatric hospital following a year of crippling anxiety, depression, and self-harm. Over two weeks, she underwent myriad psychological tests, participated in numerous therapy sessions, connected with fellow patients, and experienced profound breakthroughs, such as when a doctor noted, "There is a you inside that feels invisible to those looking at you from the outside."

In Men Have Called Her Crazy, Tendler recounts her hospital experience as well as pivotal moments in her life that preceded and followed. As the title suggests, many of these moments are impacted by men: unrequited liven high school; the twenty-nine-year-old she lost her virginity to when she was seventeen; the frustration and absurdities of dating in her mid-thirties; and her decision to freeze her eggs as all her friends were starting families.

This stunning literary self-portrait examines the unreasonable expectations and pressures women face in the twenty-first century. Yet, as overwhelming and despairing as that can feel, Tendler ultimately offers a message of hope. Early in her stay in the hospital, she says, "My wish for myself is that one day I'll reach a place where I can face hardship without trying to destroy myself." By the end of the book, she fulfills that wish. 

My Opinion

3 stars

I hate to do it but I have to acknowledge that I discovered Anna Marie Tendler through all the media surrounding her divorce.  That led me to her Instagram which led me eventually to this book.

She does an amazing job at keeping herself centered in her story, something that is not always easy for women to do.  It was emotional enough to render empathy but also detached enough to have some separation and clarity of the bigger picture.

She and I could not be more different (I'm a Midwestern mom with no creativity or spirituality) so her world almost feels like another planet to me.  I hope she herself has found the peace she wished for Shawn.