I love to read first hand accounts….memoirs and such. I always have and I love all kinds.
Stories about cancer patients who are 16 or just been married a week before they were diagnosed or brave quadriplegics who learned to paint or type with a stick in their mouth….or people who climbed Mt. Everest and lost their fingers and toes and tried to call their spouse on their cell phone right before they die and the line is busy or the spouse talks to them while they slowly die in some deep crevasse…
Memoirs make me weep.
A lot of other people must enjoy them too because I can’t remember a time when there were so many! There is something so special about slipping into someone else’s life; whether happy or sad, tragic or victorious. People are fascinating and I love to see how others have done…LIFE.
The books I am talking about this week are certainly not light beach reading but if you or someone in your world is an addict or is mentally ill, there are some really good books out right now that might interest you. Or if you just want to be better informed about an ever growing segment of our population, here are some suggestions….
Michael Greenberg has written Hurry down Sunshine which is the story of his own daughter, Sally, who at the age of fifteen, was “struck mad” as her father puts it. Their harrowing and painful journey began on a seemingly ordinary day which ends with Sally being committed to a Manhattan psychiatric ward. As she said, “I feel like I’m traveling and traveling with nowhere to go back to.” This book is a diary of their family’s journey and Greenberg allows us to experience a fraction of the confusion and desperateness of their situation. Nothing happens to just one person within a family; there are effects and repercussions felt immediately and for years to come. This is a powerful and heartbreaking story.
Beautiful Boy by David Sheff is another recounting of a child and a family in crisis as the author writes about his son, Nic, who began his life of addiction as a teenager. Sheff writes, “Before Nic became addicted to crystal meth, he was adored by his two younger siblings. After meth, he was a trembling wraith who lied repeatedly, stole money from his eight year old brother, and lived on the streets.” The author traces this tragedy from its very first warning signs and walks us through as Nic falls deeper and deeper into addiction. At one point, Sheff felt like his total preoccupation with Nic became an addiction in and of itself. His perspective as both a father and a journalist help him create this unforgettable story. It grew out of an article he wrote for “The New York Times” magazine and is unforgettable as it shows how love looks and feels when you and your child are mired deep down in the trenches.
The Addict by Dr. Michael Stein is the story of a remarkable relationship between a patient and a caring committed doctor. The journey they make together over the course of one year of intense structure and rehab follows Lucy from the start of her treatment, through relapse, to her eventual long term recovery. It is also the story of a doctor, the author, who has devoted his life to reclaiming lost souls. This unusual account will leave you with lots of thoughts and questions to wrestle with and attempt to understand.
Escape from Bellevue by Christopher John Campion is a memoir that deals with mental illness and at the same time keeps a strong sense of humor! Campion was the lead singer of a New York ‘indie’ rock band called the Knockout Drops. They found quite a huge local following and at the very height of the band’s success, Campion began his downward spiral into alcohol and addiction. He chronicles life on the street and shares stories about the people he meets on his long road back. He enters a psychiatric hospital, Bellevue Hospital, and starts the difficult but sometimes hysterical life of a recovering addict. He also became the first patient since 1963 who escaped from Bellevue’s locked ward!! This book is one wild ride…..
The last title is Voluntary Madness by Norah Vincent who also wrote Self Made Man; which appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers List. In her new book, Vincent talks about the world of madness in which she lived and knowingly immersed herself in the hope of finding mental equilibrium on the other side. Over the course of several years, she committed herself to three different psychiatric facilities, each of varying socio-economic levels, and brings into our lives the people she meets along the way. It is a raw, incredibly vulnerable account of a life none of us would ever choose but is very much a reality for many people who are hurting but who have chosen to attempt real change.
There is so much we can learn from each other…..
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