THE BELL JAR: The Bell Jar has been a badge of adolescent angst since it was published under Sylvia Plath's "Victoria Lucas" pseudonym back in 1963—indeed, I recall reading it for the first time in 10th grade and thinking protagonist Esther Greenwood got me, though she probably listened to less Dashboard Confessional. Memories of teenage sadness aside, the semi-autobiographical book chronicles Greenwood's searing depression and mental illness starting in the "queer, sultry summer" of 1953, while she struggles with work as a magazine intern and attempts to commit suicide.