The Midnight Disease: The Drive to Write, Writer's Block, and the Creative Brain

Don't Feed The Pig
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Condition:
Very Good
“Book is in VERY GOOD condition - may show minor signs of use, may NOT contain supplemental materials ”... Read moreabout condition
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eBay item number:154804246299
Last updated on Oct 09, 2025 07:48:20 PDTView all revisionsView all revisions

Item specifics

Condition
Very Good
A book that does not look new and has been read but is in excellent condition. No obvious damage to the cover, with the dust jacket (if applicable) included for hard covers. No missing or damaged pages, no creases or tears, and no underlining/highlighting of text or writing in the margins. May be very minimal identifying marks on the inside cover. Very minimal wear and tear. See the seller’s listing for full details and description of any imperfections. See all condition definitionsopens in a new window or tab
Seller Notes
“Book is in VERY GOOD condition - may show minor signs of use, may NOT contain supplemental ...
ISBN
9780618485413
Book Title
Midnight Disease : the Drive to Write, Writer's Block, and the Creative Brain
Publisher
HarperCollins
Item Length
8.2 in
Publication Year
2005
Format
Trade Paperback
Language
English
Illustrator
Yes
Item Height
0.7 in
Author
Alice Weaver Flaherty
Genre
Language Arts & Disciplines, Psychology
Topic
Authorship, Creative Ability, Evolutionary Psychology, Neuropsychology
Item Weight
10.1 Oz
Item Width
5.5 in
Number of Pages
320 Pages
Category

About this product

Product Identifiers

Publisher
HarperCollins
ISBN-10
0618485414
ISBN-13
9780618485413
eBay Product ID (ePID)
30788139

Product Key Features

Book Title
Midnight Disease : the Drive to Write, Writer's Block, and the Creative Brain
Number of Pages
320 Pages
Language
English
Publication Year
2005
Topic
Authorship, Creative Ability, Evolutionary Psychology, Neuropsychology
Illustrator
Yes
Genre
Language Arts & Disciplines, Psychology
Author
Alice Weaver Flaherty
Format
Trade Paperback

Dimensions

Item Height
0.7 in
Item Weight
10.1 Oz
Item Length
8.2 in
Item Width
5.5 in

Additional Product Features

Intended Audience
Trade
Dewey Edition
21
Reviews
"[Flaherty] is the real thing . . . and her writing magically transforms her own tragedies into something strange and whimsical almost, almost funny. The Washington Post "This is interesting, heated stuff." The San Francisco Chronicle "Brilliant . . . [a] precious jewel of a book . . . that sparkles with some fresh insight or intriguing fact on practically every page." Seattle Post-Intelligencer
TitleLeading
The
Dewey Decimal
808/.001/9
Synopsis
Why is it that some writers struggle for months to come up with the perfect sentence or phrase while others, hunched over a keyboard deep into the night, seem unable to stop writing? In The Midnight Disease, neurologist Alice W. Flaherty explores the mysteries of literary creativity: the drive to write, what sparks it, and what extinguishes it. She draws on intriguing examples from medical case studies and from the lives of writers, from Franz Kafka to Anne Lamott, from Sylvia Plath to Stephen King. Flaherty, who herself has grappled with episodes of compulsive writing and block, also offers a compelling personal account of her own experiences with these conditions., Why is it that some writers struggle for months to come up with the perfect sentence or phrase, while others, hunched over a notepad or keyboard deep into the night, seem unable to stop writing? In The Midnight Disease: The Drive to Write, Writer's Block, and the Creative Brain (Houghton Mifflin, January), neurologist Alice W. Flaherty explores the hows and whys of writing, revealing the science behind hypergraphia -- the overwhelming urge to write -- and its dreaded opposite, writer's block. The result is an innovative contribution to our understanding of creative drive, one that throws new light on the work of some of our greatest writers. A neurologist whose work puts her at the forefront of brain science, Flaherty herself suffered from hypergraphia after the loss of her prematurely born twins. Her unique perspective as both doctor and patient helps her make important connections between pain and the drive to communicate and between mood disorders and the creative muse. Deftly guiding readers through the inner workings of the human brain, Flaherty sheds new light on popular notions of the origins of creativity, giving us a new understanding of the role of the temporal lobes and the limbic system. She challenges the standard idea that one side of the brain controls creative function, and explains the biology behind a visit from the muse. Flaherty writes compellingly of her bout with manic hypergraphia, when "the sight of a computer keyboard or a blank page gave me the same rush that drug addicts get from seeing their freebasing paraphernalia." Dissecting the role of emotion in writing and the ways in which brain-body and mood disorders can lead to prodigious -- or meager -- creative output, Flaherty uses examples from her own life and the lives of writers from Kafka to Anne Lamott, from Sylvia Plath to Stephen King: * Fyodor Dostoevsky, the author of nineteen novels and novellas and voluminous notebooks, diaries, and letters, suffere

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Don't Feed The Pig

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We are a husband and wife family company. We both have medical conditions, but enjoy finding unique or fun items for people. We also try to recycle boxes and stuffing for shipping to cut down on ...
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