Download high-resolution image Look inside
Listen to a clip from the audiobook
audio pause button
0:00
0:00

Darkness Visible

A Memoir of Madness

Look inside
Listen to a clip from the audiobook
audio pause button
0:00
0:00
In 1985 William Styron fell victim to a crippling and nearly suicidal depression. This book is his description of his descent into depression, an unprecedented account of the journey into madness. That he manages to convey its tortuous progression and his eventual recovery with such candor and precision makes this book a rare work that will arouse a shock of recognition even among those who have been spared the suffering it describes.

"A chilling yet hopeful report from a mental wilderness into which one in ten Americans disappears."--Chicago Sun-Times

"A striking addition to the notable personal accounts of mental illness."--The Washington Post Book World
William Styron (1925–2006), a native of the Virginia Tidewater, was a graduate of Duke University and a veteran of the US Marine Corps. His books include The Confessions of Nat Turner, Sophie’s Choice, and Darkness Visible. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, the William Dean Howells Medal, the American Book Award, the Witness to Justice Award from the Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation, and the Légion d’Honneur. With his wife, the poet and activist Rose Styron, he lived for most of his adult life in Roxbury, Connecticut, and in Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts, where he is buried. View titles by William Styron

About

In 1985 William Styron fell victim to a crippling and nearly suicidal depression. This book is his description of his descent into depression, an unprecedented account of the journey into madness. That he manages to convey its tortuous progression and his eventual recovery with such candor and precision makes this book a rare work that will arouse a shock of recognition even among those who have been spared the suffering it describes.

"A chilling yet hopeful report from a mental wilderness into which one in ten Americans disappears."--Chicago Sun-Times

"A striking addition to the notable personal accounts of mental illness."--The Washington Post Book World

Author

William Styron (1925–2006), a native of the Virginia Tidewater, was a graduate of Duke University and a veteran of the US Marine Corps. His books include The Confessions of Nat Turner, Sophie’s Choice, and Darkness Visible. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, the William Dean Howells Medal, the American Book Award, the Witness to Justice Award from the Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation, and the Légion d’Honneur. With his wife, the poet and activist Rose Styron, he lived for most of his adult life in Roxbury, Connecticut, and in Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts, where he is buried. View titles by William Styron

Books for Native American Heritage Month

In celebration of Native American Heritage Month this November, Penguin Random House Education is highlighting books that detail the history of Native Americans, and stories that explore Native American culture and experiences. Browse our collections here: Native American Creators Native American History & Culture

Read more

2024 Middle and High School Collections

The Penguin Random House Education Middle School and High School Digital Collections feature outstanding fiction and nonfiction from the children’s, adult, DK, and Grupo Editorial divisions, as well as publishers distributed by Penguin Random House. Peruse online or download these valuable resources to discover great books in specific topic areas such as: English Language Arts,

Read more

PRH Education High School Collections

All reading communities should contain protected time for the sake of reading. Independent reading practices emphasize the process of making meaning through reading, not an end product. The school culture (teachers, administration, etc.) should affirm this daily practice time as inherently important instructional time for all readers. (NCTE, 2019)   The Penguin Random House High

Read more

PRH Education Translanguaging Collections

Translanguaging is a communicative practice of bilinguals and multilinguals, that is, it is a practice whereby bilinguals and multilinguals use their entire linguistic repertoire to communicate and make meaning (García, 2009; García, Ibarra Johnson, & Seltzer, 2017)   It is through that lens that we have partnered with teacher educators and bilingual education experts, Drs.

Read more