--- product_id: 8376265 title: "My Body Is a Book of Rules" price: "€ 41.97" currency: EUR in_stock: true reviews_count: 10 url: https://www.desertcart.be/products/8376265-my-body-is-a-book-of-rules store_origin: BE region: Belgium --- # My Body Is a Book of Rules **Price:** € 41.97 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** My Body Is a Book of Rules - **How much does it cost?** € 41.97 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.be](https://www.desertcart.be/products/8376265-my-body-is-a-book-of-rules) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description "A candid, autobiographical scrapbook from a young woman navigating manic depression.… A fever dream of darkly personal memories and musings from the shadowy corners of sexual violence and mental illness." — Kirkus Review As Elissa Washuta makes the transition from college kid to independent adult, she finds herself overwhelmed by the calamities piling up in her brain. When her mood-stabilizing medications aren’t threatening her life, they’re shoving her from depression to mania and back in the space of an hour. Her crisis of American Indian identity bleeds into other areas of self-doubt; mental illness, sexual trauma, ethnic identity, and independence become intertwined. Sifting through the scraps of her past in seventeen formally inventive chapters, Washuta aligns the strictures of her Catholic school education with C osmopolitan ’s mandates for womanhood, views memories through the distorting lens of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit , and contrasts her bipolar highs and lows with those of Britney Spears and Kurt Cobain. Built on the bones of fundamental identity questions as contorted by a distressed brain, My Body Is a Book of Rules pulls no punches in its self-deprecating and ferocious look at human fallibility. This debut memoir from the independent publisher Red Hen Press isn't for the faint of heart. Washuta's honest and lyrical language as well as her subject matter — her struggles with bipolar disorder and coping with the effects of rape — will gut you, but it's the rawness of this work that makes it worth reading. Washuta's form, including revised psychiatrists' notes, annotated research papers on the use of the term "hooking up," summaries of prescription medications, and a Match.com profile, is inventive and invites the reader into the author's chaotic brain. The book perfectly articulates the difficulties navigating the path toward adulthood while coping with trauma and mental illness. —Melissa Duclos for Bustle Featured in Seattle Reading List: https://www.seattlemet.com/arts-and-culture/a-big-seattle-reading-list-of-washington-books#fiction Review: A Must Read! Pure Inventive Genius! - From someone who was diagnosed with bipolar II and an anxiety disorder just after graduating from the University of Washington with a B.A. in English w/creative writing emphasis (2000) AND having taken several classes offered through the Indian Studies Department, I already felt some affinity with Elissa Washuta, although I am not Native American and in no way am appropriating her culture. I was even a research assistant for David Shields for a few years and he was my creative writing supervising professor for my senior year project. I didn't have a drinking problem, but it's clear in looking back that my undiagnosed bipolar disorder had caused me problems in some classes. My crutch was food. I was so struck by Ms. Washuta's brutal honesty and absolutely love the creative descriptions of drugs and the letter from the Univ of Maryland Health Center to the Mental Health Clinic at the UW is priceless (I also saw doctors and counselors there too), and exemplifies genius in my opinion. But how she organizes the book keeps the reader on the eractic trajectory that mimics her own. I highly recommend this book...to anyone who loves an incredible story, brilliantly told, about the constellation of mental illness, cultural identity and sexual abuse AND overcoming those obstacles. Review: You have no idea what you're getting into. - I have a hard time writing a review because there aren't enough feelings and emotions to adequately describe what Elissa gives us in this book. For me, this book is the heart wrenching, gut turning story of identity. We see Elissa wrestle with identity in so many ways: what it is to be American Indian and how to represent and project that; a woman seeking physical and emotional nourishment; a story of new beginnings and old habits and how to reconcile the two. This is an intense read. You will read intimate details of the inner workings of Elissa's world. You will want to put the book down, pretend it doesn't exist. You will pick it up and read it. This book is an addiction, one that you have to ride out to the end. I'm scared to read it again. I know I will, but I don't know when I will be ready. I think part of the reason a reader can voraciously consume this book is because of the unconventional layout in which the words are presented. If you are expecting something conventional, you should turn away right now. This is smart, poignant, hard-hitting, straight-talking, and above all else, uncompromising. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #556,596 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #4,096 in Coming of Age Fiction (Books) #4,660 in Women's Biographies #12,584 in Memoirs (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.5 out of 5 stars 130 Reviews | ## Images ![My Body Is a Book of Rules - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61ENF9iUJVL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Must Read! Pure Inventive Genius! *by C***S on July 18, 2018* From someone who was diagnosed with bipolar II and an anxiety disorder just after graduating from the University of Washington with a B.A. in English w/creative writing emphasis (2000) AND having taken several classes offered through the Indian Studies Department, I already felt some affinity with Elissa Washuta, although I am not Native American and in no way am appropriating her culture. I was even a research assistant for David Shields for a few years and he was my creative writing supervising professor for my senior year project. I didn't have a drinking problem, but it's clear in looking back that my undiagnosed bipolar disorder had caused me problems in some classes. My crutch was food. I was so struck by Ms. Washuta's brutal honesty and absolutely love the creative descriptions of drugs and the letter from the Univ of Maryland Health Center to the Mental Health Clinic at the UW is priceless (I also saw doctors and counselors there too), and exemplifies genius in my opinion. But how she organizes the book keeps the reader on the eractic trajectory that mimics her own. I highly recommend this book...to anyone who loves an incredible story, brilliantly told, about the constellation of mental illness, cultural identity and sexual abuse AND overcoming those obstacles. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ You have no idea what you're getting into. *by S***D on August 18, 2014* I have a hard time writing a review because there aren't enough feelings and emotions to adequately describe what Elissa gives us in this book. For me, this book is the heart wrenching, gut turning story of identity. We see Elissa wrestle with identity in so many ways: what it is to be American Indian and how to represent and project that; a woman seeking physical and emotional nourishment; a story of new beginnings and old habits and how to reconcile the two. This is an intense read. You will read intimate details of the inner workings of Elissa's world. You will want to put the book down, pretend it doesn't exist. You will pick it up and read it. This book is an addiction, one that you have to ride out to the end. I'm scared to read it again. I know I will, but I don't know when I will be ready. I think part of the reason a reader can voraciously consume this book is because of the unconventional layout in which the words are presented. If you are expecting something conventional, you should turn away right now. This is smart, poignant, hard-hitting, straight-talking, and above all else, uncompromising. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Meh *by C***E on September 28, 2019* Quality of book itself was good.Content of book, meh. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.be/products/8376265-my-body-is-a-book-of-rules](https://www.desertcart.be/products/8376265-my-body-is-a-book-of-rules) --- *Product available on Desertcart Belgium* *Store origin: BE* *Last updated: 2026-10-21*