{"product_id":"9781861893178","title":"Insomnia: A Cultural History","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis cultural, historical, and scientific exploration of sleeplessness by Eluned Summers-Bremner begins with the literature of ancient times, and finds its sufferers in prominent texts such as the \u003ci\u003eIliad\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eOdyssey\u003c\/i\u003e, the Mesopotamian epic \u003ci\u003eGilgamesh\u003c\/i\u003e, and the Bible. Moving to Romantic and Gothic literature, she shows how sleeplessness continued to play a large role as the advent of street lighting in the nineteenth century inspired the fantastical blurring of daytime reality and night visions and authors connected insomnia to the ephemeral worlds of nightmares and the sublime. Meanwhile, throughout the ages insomnia has been variously categorized by the medical community as a manifestation of a deeper psychological or physical malady. Today’s medical solutions tend to involve prescription drugs—but, as \u003ci\u003eInsomnia\u003c\/i\u003e reveals, important questions linger about the role of the pharmaceutical industry and the effectiveness of such treatments.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e “Summers-Bremner’s account of literary usages of insomnia, from \u003ci\u003eGilgamesh\u003c\/i\u003e to Garcia Márquez, is a rich one, sufficient to make the case that insomnia is a recurrent theme in Western culture.”––\u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e            \u003c\/i\u003e“A whimsical tour of the history of how different cultures have viewed not only insomnia but also the night itself, sleep, dreams, darkness, and activities that occur in the dark.”—\u003ci\u003eNew England\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e Journal of Medicine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e            “Summers-Bremner’s excellent account of insomnia shows that the consideration of our waking moments is indicative of the changing ways we think about life.”—\u003ci\u003eFinancial Times Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Reaktion Books, Limited","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47039532663024,"sku":"9781861893178","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781861893178_p0.jpg?v=1763600933","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781861893178","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}