Great Pretender (Cahalan) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
The Great Pretender reads like a detective story, with Cahalan revealing tantalizing clues at opportune moments so we can experience the thrills of discovery alongside her.… What she unearthed turned out to be far stranger, as documented in her absorbing new book…. [It is the] fraught history of psychiatry and the pursuit of scientific knowledge.
Jennifer Szalai - New York Times


Cahalan's passionate and exhaustive reexamination of the famous research On Being Sane in Insane Places by Stanford psychologist David Rosenhan is a riveting read.… A terrific piece of detective work [with] fascinating insights into the mental health controversies that have swirled ever since the study's publication.
Forbes


This is a well-crafted, gripping narrative that succeeds on many levels. Cahalan, who gained the trust of Rosenhan's family, is meticulous and sensitive in her research; compelling and insightful in her writing.
Financial Times


[A]n impressive feat of investigative journalism--tenaciously conduct, appealingly written... as compelling as a detective novel.
Economist


A stranger-than-fiction thrill ride exposing the loose screws of our broken mental health system.
O Magazine


A thrilling mystery--and a powerful case for a deeper understanding of mental illness.
People


Cahalan's research is dogged and her narrative riveting, leading us from red herring to clue and back with the dexterity of the best mystery novelists. Then she builds her case like a skilled prosecuting attorney.
New York Journal of Books


Cahalan sets a new standard for investigative journalism in this fascinating investigation…. Her impeccable inquiry into the shadowy reality of Rosenhan’s study makes an urgent case that… [psychiatry] must recover the public trust that "Rosenhan helped shatter."
Publishers Weekly


Cahalan's brilliant book… diligently traces and interviews people associated with the study, the circumstances of which became increasingly suspect. In the end, she provides a convincing argument that Rosenhan largely fabricated his research. —Lynne Maxwell, West Virginia Univ. Coll. of Law Lib., Morgantown
Library Journal


A sharp reexamination of one of the defining moments in the field of psychiatry.… Her pursuit reads like a well-tempered mystery…. A well-told story fraught with both mystery and real-life aftershocks that set the psychiatric community on its ear.
Kirkus Reviews