Possessed

Throughout history, there have been accounts of “demonic possessions,” during which seemingly normal people suddenly go haywire, experiencing a whole spectrum of unusual and psychotic behaviors. In modern times, it happened to journalist Susannah Cahalan, who flew off the handle — out of the blue — in a haze of seizures, hallucinations and other behavioral anomalies that doctors could not explain, even after a month in the hospital and a costly battery of blood tests and brain scans. If not for the discovery of a single neurologist, Dr. Souhel Najjar, who finally diagnosed her with a rare form of encephalitis that he described as a fire in the right side of her brain, she might not have overcome her hellish descent.

Stories like this one, detailed in works from The Bell Jar and I Never Promised You a Rose Garden to Girl, Interrupted and Prozac Nation, have fascinated readers for years; fully recovered, Cahalan wrote her own inspirational memoir of the experience, Brain on Fire, which became a bestseller. And in this case, it’s a happy ending. She’ll be in town to discuss and sign the new paperback edition ($16, Simon & Schuster) tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Tattered Cover Book Store, 2526 Colfax Avenue. For details, visit tatteredcover.com or call 303-322-7727.

Mon., Aug. 12, 7:30 p.m., 2013