Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
86th out of 936 books
—
3,327 voters
When Rabbit Howls
Truddi Chase began therapy to discover why she suffered from blackouts. What surfaced was terrifying: she was inhabited by 'the Troops'-92 individual personalities. This groundbreaking true story is made all the more extraordinary in that it was written by the Troops themselves. What they reveal is a spellbinding descent into a personal hell-and an ultimate deliverance for...more
Paperback, 400 pages
Published
April 1st 1990
by Jove
(first published 1987)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
3,000)
Not a fun read, but very interesting, particularly if you are interested in psychology. I actually didn't finish the last 3rd of the book in detail, kind of skimmed through it. It was very graphic in parts, which was hard to get through. I think what held me back from really liking it was that it is supposedly true, but the inner skeptic in me kept wondering if it was all true, how the author was able to pen this book "through" her other personalities in the manner she did. Multiple personality...more
No matter who you are, this book will affect you and make you think.
From the introduction on, my desire to keep an open mind was at war with skepticism. On the one hand, multiple personality is an unusual topic, to say the least, and even stranger than Sybil, this book was written by the personalities themselves--the "Troops for Truddi Chase" as they call themselves. Naturally one would not expect it to read like any ordinary book. On the other hand, a label that says "NF" with some official-lo
...more
I found this book alternatively fascinating, unbelievable, horrifying and silly. I had heard elsewhere that there has been some speculation that the book is not legitimate but in fact is fabricated. When the story line became a little too weird (as in parts about reading minds and paranormal stuff) then that speculation kept running through my mind and I became a very cynical reader.
I also found the book hard to read in places because of the way it was written (supposedly) from a first person na...more
I also found the book hard to read in places because of the way it was written (supposedly) from a first person na...more
6 likes · like · see review
So, Truddi Chase survives a horrific childhood. She develops 92 personalities as a way of dealing with both the terrible things that happens to her and the subsequent memories that they leave behind-- each personality is responsible for a different set of memories, so the whole thing doesn't have to hurt or overwhelm her at once. The person known as "Truddi" is basically an empty shell that the personalities use to make themselves known.
It's also a true story.
I couldn't stop reading it. My right...more
It's also a true story.
I couldn't stop reading it. My right...more
This book is damned disturbing. I honestly don't know what to think about it. I saw the "author" on Oprah, and I still don't know if I believe it or not. I have a degree in psychology, and multiple personalities/abnormal psych have always been a particular area of interest to me but this....
I really don't know if I can believe it or not....If it's true, then it's definitely one of the most harrowing and disturbing stories I have ever read, and if it's not, it's some damned convincing writing.
On...more
I really don't know if I can believe it or not....If it's true, then it's definitely one of the most harrowing and disturbing stories I have ever read, and if it's not, it's some damned convincing writing.
On...more
6 likes · like · see review
Nov 26, 2007
Stephy
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
strong people survivors
I read this book, and others, because I am treated for DID. Dissociative Identity Disorder in women is not infrequently the end result of sexual abuse at a very young age. So it is with the subject of this book. It was very brave of her to write it, and I don't doubt that the writing helped in the recovery. It is a difficult book to read, with lots of triggers for survivors of sexual abuse at any age, male or female. The author did some incredibly hard work to get through the trauma she experien...more
5 likes · like · see review
I first read this book when it was originally out, after seeing Chase on Oprah. I was a teen. A turnkey event in my healing, I was deeply impressed not only by Chase's courage to have survived such a childhood, but to have written about it to help others. That said, the book is very difficult to read, as it's written in a variety of voices and styles. How could it not be? Still, it's hard to read, in that it doesn't flow with the literary smoothness that a finished book should. Yet, for that rea...more
6 likes · like · see review
A friend had this book delivered to me through Amazon just as I was about to take a 4 day greyhound trip cross country. I read it through twice, crying in front of strangers at several intervals. The tale is heartbreaking. Multiple Personalities and Dissociative Identity Disorder are two topics that have always fascinated and horrified me. There are some experiences that a person cannot face having lived through, the mind breaks, shatters, hides bits to protect itself and even changes facts. Or...more
I can not imagine one parent being this abusive let a lone two....What a sad sad story.A must read.
1 like · like · see review
I don't know how to rate this book........
It confused me, it scared me, it intrigued me and it saddened me. It is an unbelievable non fiction account that literally makes me questions a time or two if it can really be true. It portrays the incredible strength of the human mind in the face of adversity and even the weaknesses of it.
The reader walks along with 'the woman' and her doctor getting a first hand telling of moment to moment life with multiple personalities and attempting to extract know...more
It confused me, it scared me, it intrigued me and it saddened me. It is an unbelievable non fiction account that literally makes me questions a time or two if it can really be true. It portrays the incredible strength of the human mind in the face of adversity and even the weaknesses of it.
The reader walks along with 'the woman' and her doctor getting a first hand telling of moment to moment life with multiple personalities and attempting to extract know...more
2 likes · like · see review
Sometimes, our minds can't even begin to comprehend what is happening, and so to protect ourselves, a darker place is created where we can hide. But when these dark places are too deep – the damage is so severe – we can’t always find our way back out, so alternate realities take over. I can certainly see how the mind of a child so young could split (even multiple times), and how her true self left entirely. Think about recent news: Young kids being raped at 11, 12 by couches and clergymen; how m...more
Jul 16, 2007
Jeremy
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
most
Shelves:
psychology,
essay-memoir
A more modern take on the "Sybil" acount of Multiple Personality Disorder. This book moves more quickly and is a bit more graphic than "Sybil" as it was written more recently. Although, it may not make you a firm believer in the disorder it will certainly make you think twice before doubting the possibility that it does exist.
This book is about multiple personalities and is actually written by those personalities who call themselves "The Troops". The "shell" they live in is called Trudy Chase. Rabbit is the core personality with many others coming into existence to protect Rabbit and to deal with situations too difficult for her. This is a true story that takes you into the dark, insipid world that caused Rabbit to hide and the others to manifest. An interesting, close up look into how and why a mind "fragments", the...more
Feb 28, 2012
Lori R Sacks
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Those who have experience abuse of have someone in their life who has.
The subject matter of this book struck very close to home, which made it a difficult read. It was so difficult to experience it as the reader that it took me 4 tries and almost 6 years to get through it.
It is not the writing that is difficult to read it is witnessing, even through the written word, the experience of the writer.
It is a book that will always have a place of honor on my bookshelves because it is a book of true heroism and filled with hope.
Reading this book brought me to understand...more
It is not the writing that is difficult to read it is witnessing, even through the written word, the experience of the writer.
It is a book that will always have a place of honor on my bookshelves because it is a book of true heroism and filled with hope.
Reading this book brought me to understand...more
This is a fabulous book that offers an intruiging look into the mind of a multiple personality. Parts are incredibly disturbing as she discribes some of the horrible events in her childhood that have caused her mind to shatter into seperate personalities in order to cope.
This was really a tough read. The girl in this story is systematically sexually abused, tortured, tormented and terrorized, from the time she is two until she turns sixteen, by her stepfather. Now she is an adult and seeks therapy because she is loosing blocks of time, hearing voices and can't feel physical pain. She makes the decision to have her therapy video taped and she in turn begins a manuscript telling of her experiences. She is a multiple personality. They call themselves the Troops. Th...more
I really enjoy psychology so this book is right up my alley. I personally believe multiple personalities as a real disorder. This book was incredibly interesting. The book was written at the beginning of her discovery of the many personalities and all the personalities starting to recognize the existence of the each other. This book really stays with you. I think one of the things you don't realize with people with sort of disorder is that they aren't really crazy but have had to become that way...more
This autobiography reads like a novel. It is easily one of my top two favorite autobiographies of all time. A very dear friend recommended this book to me, and while it is a painful and graphic subject matter, it is exquisitely written and made this reader hope, cheer, and pray for the characters as I read. This is a true story of remarkable resilience, tragedy, and triumph. It is my belief that every human being should read this book at the age of 18. There is much every society can learn from...more
This book is about a woman who has multiple personality disorder and her journey to learn about the disorder and her personalities. She chooses not to integrate her personalities and learn to live with them. I find this disorder fascinating and this book is amazing at helping the reader understand this complex disorder. It is not an easy read. Truddi Chase was sexually and physically abused and some of the content is very disturbing. Also, different personalities help write the book which can be...more
1 like · like · see review
Mar 23, 2012
Thomas Smith
added it
Arguably the best and most realistic book available on the subject of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). Though it is certainly fashionable to doubt the very existence of DID today, those who do so seem to be reacting more to the possibility of Truddi Chase's harrowing upbringing rather than what it caused psychologically. Since I am married to a multiple myself, I can assure any doubters that stories like Chase's happen all the time. Such damage may well be happening to someone right this mi...more
3 likes · like · see review
Apr 07, 2007
michele
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
college-reading-circle
This book was disturbing. I read this while I was in school and was having a difficult time "defining" myself, as we do. Not something you want to read to feel good.
1 like · like · see review
It was slow starting, and there were times I thought it would end up one of my many books with an enternal bookmark in it, never to be finished... but it kept my interests, and when started out as a feeling of "plowing through it" became a feeling of "i have to read at least a chapter every night before bed."... it was suspenseful, and I started to want to make the book last longer, because I actually started to get attached to the characters... which were actually her multiple personalities.
At...more
At...more
Feb 09, 2009
Broodingferret
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
biographies,
psychology
This book was fascinating, very well written, and very difficult to read. Unlike many other books on the subject, which are written by the clinician involved, When Rabbit Howls is an autobiographical account of living with Dissociative Identity Disorder (formerly Multiple Personality Disorder) and learning to come to grips with both it and the absolutely obscene abuse that is believed to have led to it (in her case). In an effort to make the experience clear to a lay audience while still conveyi...more
1 like · like · see review
Dec 08, 2008
Terra Pfaff
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommended to Terra by:
My Sociology teacher in High School.
This book was amazing. I havint read it in a long time but you learn so much about the human mind and what it is capable of... it's still hard for me to wrap my mind around it. This is a book that you can read over and over again and you will learn something new every time!
Emotionally?... this book is hard to get through. Truddi Chase has a multiple personality disorder. She has over a hundred diffrent documented personalitys in her head and the story behind why this has happened to her is... h...more
Emotionally?... this book is hard to get through. Truddi Chase has a multiple personality disorder. She has over a hundred diffrent documented personalitys in her head and the story behind why this has happened to her is... h...more
I could not put this down, regardless of how horrified I was. I could not believe the details the author shared about her sexual abuse, and how she perceived the world, including herself. It truly did give me an insight of what multiple personality disorder entails of. However I do have to admit, I wondered at times if it was all merely a story she drummed up in her head? It seemed too incredulous for anybody to have gone through what she had and survived. You could say I'm particularly intrigue...more
What a heartrending story. It frightens me to know there are deviants out there like this.
I don't even know where to start. If you don't already know the story of Truddi Chase, you will be blown away by what this woman went through. This is a story of human frailty but also survival of the mind. Chase was tormented as a child and her mind finally 'fragmented' into several personalities. Chase is fascinating. You will be shocked and disturbed when you realize what the title "When Rabbit Howls" really means. I read this in the late 80's but just writing this review makes me want to fin...more
If you want to take a hard, disturbing and frightening look at what sexual abuse in such awful forms can do to a child then this is the book you must read. I caution young people reading this because it is pretty awful.
I was horrified at what I learned this poor little girl suffered but she endured with the mental scars to prove it. People scoff at multiple personality disorder but it is real. This is a very creative way to survive multiple traumas endured at an early age.
Truddi Chase passed awa...more
I was horrified at what I learned this poor little girl suffered but she endured with the mental scars to prove it. People scoff at multiple personality disorder but it is real. This is a very creative way to survive multiple traumas endured at an early age.
Truddi Chase passed awa...more
I enjoy reading about psychology and I find it fascinating. I hadn't heard anything about this book before buying it from Barnes and Noble from the Psychology section. I felt very uncomfortable at certain parts in the book. It is dark and confusing and the subject of incest and sexual abuse described so vividly is disturbing and uncomfortable, but the story line and how it is written fascinates me. I loved being about to "see" into the mind of someone with MPD.
If I went back knowing what I know...more
If I went back knowing what I know...more
This was an amazing book! I loved reading it. There is no denying that the book was difficult to read in some parts but worth the discomfort and the urge to reach into the pages and strangle a few of the people.
I held no skepticism while reading this novel. I probably accepted it to easily concerning all parts about the personalities and the paranormal incidences that occurred. However, this a ripping story. I would suggest reading it twice, once independently taking it at face value and again t...more
I held no skepticism while reading this novel. I probably accepted it to easily concerning all parts about the personalities and the paranormal incidences that occurred. However, this a ripping story. I would suggest reading it twice, once independently taking it at face value and again t...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Do you know what it is meant by When Rabbit howls...?. | 23 | 156 | Nov 19, 2012 08:52pm | |
| Significance of Ean | 2 | 18 | Jul 14, 2012 02:04pm |
Truddi M. Chase and "The Troops" were the authors of When Rabbit Howls, an autobiography describing their childhood life with a sexually psychotic stepfather.
In the early 1980s, Chase began therapy to address feelings of extreme fear and distress which she thought might be related to the fact that her stepfather had "fondled" her. What she uncovered with Dr. Robert Phillips was a snakepit of sexua...more
More about Truddi Chase...
In the early 1980s, Chase began therapy to address feelings of extreme fear and distress which she thought might be related to the fact that her stepfather had "fondled" her. What she uncovered with Dr. Robert Phillips was a snakepit of sexua...more
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
updated Mar 27, 2013 11:17am
There are many possibilities. As the Troops say in the book, no two...more
Mar 27, 2013 03:11pm