The Distinguished Lecture Series hosted Elizabeth Wurtzel in the Memorial Union Theater Monday night.

Wurtzel, author of “Prozac Nation,” “More Now Again” and “Bitch,” spoke to a large crowd undeterred by the snow that was still falling when her speech ended. Wurtzel covered a wide variety of topics in her talk, including her experiences with depression, prescription drug abuse and shoplifting.

Wurtzel opened her speech in the individualistic manner that readers of her books have come to associate with her.

“It’s still very hard for me to believe that anybody cares, that I got so lucky to be able to do what I love, which is write,” Wurtzel said.

Wurtzel read to the audience from her book “More Now Again,” describing it as her favorite. The book chronicles her experiences with drugs and being arrested for shoplifting.

Wurtzel compared her first experience snorting Ritalin, which was legally prescribed to her, saying, “I might have been Columbus discovering America, looking for India.”

Wurtzel also spoke about how her addiction to snorting Ritalin became so bad, she would go through 40 pills a day. The only thing she worried about while she was an addict was where she would get her pills from next.

Wurtzel described how shoplifting had also become another sort of high for her, as she would steal Gucci sunglasses from Bloomingdale’s and Estee Lauder sample lipsticks and developed a system for evading store security. While high on Ritalin one day, Wurtzel was arrested at Saks Fifth Avenue for shoplifting a $299 bracelet.

“If you’re a white middle-class girl, the worst thing that can happen to you is to get arrested,” Wurtzel quoted from “More Now Again.”

Of the night she spent in jail, Wurtzel said it was so bad she does not even steal pens off people’s desks.

During the question-and-answer period, the audience thanked Wurtzel for writing about her story and bringing her struggle to the masses.

“She really got to the audience well,” University of Wisconsin freshman Liz Klanderman said. “The audience related well, and I could tell that people who asked questions afterwards really appreciated [Wurtzel’s] writing about her struggle with depression.”

UW graduate students Stephanie Maes and Joshua Davis came to the speech together but had different reasons for being there.

“I’ve read about the over-prescription of Prozac,” Davis said. “My mom’s a psychiatrist, and I want to talk to her about what [Wurtzel] says.”

“I’m just here because I try to go to every lecture,” Maes said.

Wurtzel offered wisdom and words of comfort to those who identified with her struggle with depression or drug addiction.

“You can’t be a guest at your own funeral. Everyone has this fantasy that, ‘When I’m gone, they’ll miss me,'” Wurtzel said. “One of the best lessons I’ve learned is to let people know how bad I feel. It’s worth letting people know in real life — and not your imaginary afterlife — that you’re contemplating suicide.”