The Ceiling Outside

"[A] moving account of the self and its unraveling"

“[An] extraordinary exploration of selfhood, which blends humane sensitivity with acute philosophical insight.”

“[A] gripping exploration of mental illness and consciousness.”

“A gripping confluence of the personal and the scholarly that is able to offer up an unusually holistic exploration of the way selves are lost, and found, under the auspices of modern medicine.”

"An eloquent and informed plea not to reduce ourselves and our existences to categories... A clarion call to a more holistic approach, urging us to find meaning and even beauty in apparent loss and decrepitude."

"[A] wide-ranging, engaging study that encompasses philosophy, history, medicine, memoir, and science," The Ceiling Outside is "a luminous, intellectually dense meditation on mind." 

“Noga Arikha is that rare author whose deep knowledge of philosophy, science, and the arts allows her to move deftly from the quandaries of medical diagnosis and the scientific ideas that inform them to the intimate narratives of people afflicted with illnesses that threaten the coherence of that mysterious thing we call ‘a self.’ Astute, compassionate, and brilliant, The Ceiling Outside is finally an adventure story in the bewildering drama of being.”

“Noga Arikha is a poet and a painter with the soul of a scientist. Trust her to guide you through a study of suffering and healing that will leave you humanly richer and, wonder of wonders, at peace with yourself.”

“With grace, rigour, and imagination, Arikha brings together the languages of mind, brain, and embodied human experience to give us a book that fascinates on every page.”

"A moving journey to the roots of the self, which uniquely combines the author's deep knowledge of its neuropsychological foundations with a touching humanistic sensibility. A must read."