Biography of the Author

Kaysen was born and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Kaysen the Cambridge School before being sent to McLean Hospital in 1967 to undergo psychiatric treatment for depression. It was there she was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. She was released after eighteen months. She later drew on this experience for her 1993 memoir Girl, Interrupted, which was made into a film in 1999, her role being played by Winona Ryder. All her books draw on her own personal experiences to varying degrees. Her most recent book, The Camera My Mother Gave Me, is a memoir that was published in 2001. Kaysen has one sister and is divorced.

I found it very interesting that Kaysen was able to depict her novels from her own experiences. I have seen the movie of Girl,Interrupted but I never knew she had came up with the concept from her own experiences.