Is Strangers to Ourselves Worth Reading?
Unsettled Minds and the Stories That Make Us
by Rachel Aviv
Ada’s Score
New Yorker staff writer Rachel Aviv weaves together five extraordinary case studies of people who have experienced severe mental illness, interrogating how the stories we tell about our minds shape — and sometimes hinder — recovery. From a woman in India treated by her family's rituals to a Black teenager whose early hospitalisation may have altered the course of her life, Aviv asks whose narratives get to count as sane and whose are silenced. Her journalism is forensic yet deeply humane, drawing on rare access, archival research, and honest self-reflection. This is one of the most important works of narrative psychology published in recent years.
Deep Dive“Aviv asks the most important question: whose story of the mind gets to be believed? Precise, compassionate, unforgettable.”
The Stories We Tell to Survive
Rachel Aviv doesn't just write about mental illness — she writes about what it means to have a self at all, and how fragile that story can be. Through intimate portraits of real people, she asks whether the narratives psychiatry hands us heal us or quietly reshape who we are. This is one of those books that will change the questions you ask yourself in the quietest moments.
Ada Brief
AI reading intelligence“Aviv asks the most important question: whose story of the mind gets to be believed? Precise, compassionate, unforgettable.”
The Stories We Tell to Survive
Rachel Aviv doesn't just write about mental illness — she writes about what it means to have a self at all, and how fragile that story can be. Through intimate portraits of real people, she asks whether the narratives psychiatry hands us heal us or quietly reshape who we are. This is one of those books that will change the questions you ask yourself in the quietest moments.
Book Details
- Publisher
- Penguin Random House
- Published
- January 1, 2022
- Pages
- 288
- Language
- English
Get This Book
Affiliate linksISBN: 9781250872913
Disclosure: ReadAda earns a commission on purchases made through these links, at no extra cost to you.
Ada’s Score
4.6
Ada’s editorial score — not an aggregate of reader reviews.
Common Questions About Strangers to Ourselves
- Is Strangers to Ourselves worth reading?
- Aviv asks the most important question: whose story of the mind gets to be believed? Precise, compassionate, unforgettable. Ada rates it 4.6 out of 5.
- How many pages is Strangers to Ourselves?
- Strangers to Ourselves is 288 pages long — around 5–6 hours at an average reading pace.
Ada also recommends
More from Psychology & Mental Health
