Anna Marie Tendler is a complicated woman, and my feelings after reading her memoir are complicated too.
TW: mentions of psychiatric hospitals, self-harm, suidicial ideation, disordered eating, depression, anxiety, general discussion of mental illness “Men Have Called Her Crazy: A Memoir” follows artist Anna Marie Tendler in early 2021 as she voluntarily “checked herself into a psychiatric hospital following a year of crippling anxiety, depression and self-harm.” At this time, she is also mid-divorce with comedian John Mulaney, which is likely a significant reason why a lot of people wanted to read this book (spoiler: he isn’t mentioned explicitly, this is her story.) The subject matter of this book is heavy. Tendler discusses her long history of depression, anxiety, self-harm by cutting herself with scissors, disordered eating, suicidal ideation, her difficult relationship with her mother, her storied dating history, her career high and lows, and her struggle to get the mental health support she truly needed. The memoir bounces back and forth between her time in the hospital and “how