No Straight Thing Was Ever Made: Essays

From a writer of astonishing talents No Straight Thing Was Ever Made bravely discusses the many facets of living with mental illnessAs a person with mood disorders that sprung up in her late teens Urvashi Bahuguna had to navigate being the first person in her Indian family to admit to and seek help for a mental illness. The changes and challenges which came with this admission and the actions that followed not only impacted who she became as a person but also everything around her&;from her interpersonal relationships both familial and romantic to the way she walked among her friends and peers and the manner in which she connected with art literature popular culture&;they all became new and unknown.Through these deeply honest essays that move between personal narratives anecdotes from conversations and research-driven storytelling Bahuguna traverses the opportunities and roadblocks that come her way with the tools she has available to her. From a writer of astonishing talents No Straight ThingWas Ever Made bravely discusses the many facets of living with mental illness. Review Bahuguna's tightly packed collection of ten essays navigates with nuance living loving and working with mental illness. Through moving personal anecdotes literary references and scientific facts Bahuguna unwraps the various dimensions of mental health struggles with the sensitivity that the subject rightly calls for. . . .No Straight Thing Was Ever Made is a reminder that mental illness does not exist in isolation and is one of those rare reads that anyone struggling with their shadow can turn to in times of distress or loneliness. --Helter Skelter About the Author Urvashi Bahuguna is the author of the poetry collectionTerrarium and writes regularly on books culture and mental health.