The Stubborn Wood

Chicago: Ziff-Davis Publishing Co.. Very Good in Very Good- dj. (c.1948). First Edition. Hardcover. [moderate shelfwear, a couple of lightly-bumped corners, slight dust-soiling to top edge, "compliments of the publisher" label on ffep; jacket edgeworn, tears at top of spine internally tape-repaired (minimal paper loss), miscellaneous other tiny tears and chips]. A novelized version of an (apparently) true case of a woman whose husband had her committed to a private asylum, thus kicking off her two-year ordeal in the clutches of the Snake Pit-like mental health system. The author assumed a pseudonym "to protect certain factual asylum officials (whose ill treatment of patients she observed with her own eyes) from embarrassing publicity" -- and to protect herself, as well, since she was a member of "a well-known and widely respected family," and was uncertain how they would react to her book. [The paperback edition had the much catchier title of "Madwoman." Interestingly, there is a file on this book in the Fritz Lang papers at the University of Wyoming, which suggests that he was considering a film adaptation.] .