Sleepless

Sleepless is a book by Marie Darrieussecq that explores the causes, implications, and consequences of insomnia, including her own experiences and those of fellow insomniacs. She discusses her attempts to find a remedy, including sleeping pills, cannabis, alcohol, bedtime rituals, acupuncture, yoga, hypnosis, psychoanalysis, a gravity blanket, and sleep-aid devices. The book also considers bedrooms, beds, clinophilia, need to be alone in bed, the homeless, refugees, trauma, capitalism's role in sleeplessness, online wakefulness, the forest as a hypnagogic zone, and the relationship between animals and sleep.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 272 pages
Publication date: 16 August 2023
Publisher: Fitzcarraldo Editions

For twenty years, Marie Darrieussecq has grappled with the pervasive and persistent affliction of insomnia, a nocturnal torment that culminates at the unearthly hour of 4 a.m., setting the tone for the following day. In her captivating book titled Sleepless, she shares her personal journey alongside those of fellow insomniacs, predominantly writers, as if writing were a form of sleep itself. Among the illustrious names she mentions are Ovid, Marcel Proust, Virginia Woolf, Marguerite Duras, Franz Kafka, Georges Perec, and others. With her trademark wit and humor, Darrieussecq vividly recounts her encounters with a somnologist and her relentless pursuit of a remedy, exploring a wide array of strategies, including sleeping pills, cannabis, alcohol, bedtime rituals, acupuncture, yoga, hypnosis, psychoanalysis, a gravity blanket, and various sleep-aid devices.

In her exploration, Darrieussecq delves into the significance of bedrooms, beds, clinophilia—the inclination to remain in a prone position for extended periods without succumbing to sleep—her preference for solitary confinement in bed, the plight of those without beds, the homeless, refugees, trauma, and the role of capitalism in perpetuating sleeplessness. She also examines our constant state of wakefulness in the digital age, the hypnotic allure of the forest as a hypnagogic zone, and the interconnectedness between our relationship with animals and our sleep patterns, or lack thereof. Sleepless oscillates between autobiography, clinical observation, and critical analysis, resulting in a graceful and inventive meditation by one of the most daring and inventive novelists working today.

Dimension: 197 x 125 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781804270653