Insomniac

I found this text a fascinating addition to my drug/knee surgery/pain induced insomnia. Not that I've ever experienced anything so awful as ‘real' insomnia, normally I'm one of those annoying people who fall asleep “as soon as my head hits the pillow” aside from being an annoying light sleeper who wakes up at any damn thing, but this was my companion every morning I was up at midnight or 1 or 3 or 4am icing my knee, taking a bath or popping more pain killers in the hopes of eking out a couple more hours or sleep.

Greene is an insomniac and english professor who had gathered together all the history, research, and real experiences of insomniacs in the english speaking world to show how difficult it is to treat a problem that people are not really sure the origins of and the frustrations of its sufferers. She includes fascinating (and disturbing) chapters on sleep deprivation, sleep conferences, and the varied drugs and tactics sufferers have used over the years to try and deal with their affliction.