shana wrote: I know! And I laughed at the weird and constant mentions of James Joyce and his daugh..."


Right?! Mrs. Bates would have had a field day with this. I think he was trying to be better than he really is. Like making references to a prolific writer like Joyce will make the comparison equal? no no Mr. Greenberg! no no.

Britta wrote: "the other thing that kind of ticked me off was the way he almost was pushing this whole thi..."

I know! And I laughed at the weird and constant mentions of James Joyce and his daughter. Like, thanks for the trivia Mr. Greenburg, but, uh, you're not James Joyce!

shana wrote: Also, the next time I read a description of the mentally ill lo..."

OMG I know right? And the other thing that kind of ticked me off was the way he almost was pushing this whole thing off on his wife because she was kinda ... flighty.

Didn't really float my boat. But then again, as the one who suggested it ... I thought I at least had to read it!

I just finished this. Eh. It was okay, but I couldn't muster up the enthusiasm to really care what happened to any of the characters.
Also, the next time I read a description of the mentally ill looking like "blurry photographs of themselves" (or some such), I'm going to scream.

I have to say this book didn't do much for me. Working in the psychiatric field it's hard not to pick apart the discrepancies. Adolescents would never be housed with adults. I have seen quite a few people on Haldol without the effects he reported even though they are possible. He could have done so much more with the story. It was a bit shallow.

I have a habit (wrought from many years as an english teacher/english major) of over analysing books which I found myself doing with this book. When I step back and look at the actual "story," you are right. I didn't find it as engrossing as others I have read but it was good in and of itself.

I guess I did appreciate seeing the "otherside" of mental illness. Not that I've read anything from a first hand prospective (more that I've lived it - I have OCD, panic disorder, and generalized anxiety - all that I'm dealing with), but I liked seeing how a parent deals with a kid that "isn't normal" all of a sudden. And it kind of mimed my own life. My very very first panic attack was on July 5th (july 4th weekend) at the movie theatre watching X Files the movie. The girl and I are very close in age (possibly it happened the same year which kind of freaks me out).

Yeah! It was in interesting story, but Best of 2008 (or 7)? Really? Who decides these things?

(Michael Greenberg?)

I completely agree. Which is strange because this book ended up on the best of 2008 (or was it 2007) from Amazon.com. I've read some memoires (or sections of memoires) like Alan Alda's first autobio which was great or even that one about the woman who lived with the wolves (which turned out to be a totally made up book) or First They Killed My Father A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers by Loung Ung. Those books were engrossing ... this one ... not so much.

I thought that it was well-written and engaging, for the most part, but like you said, I wasn't engrossed. I wished the book had started with what she was like BEFORE she went crazy, because I had no frame of reference for just how crazy she was acting. I also didn't care for the way he introduced characters - or rather, didn't introduce them. They just showed up in the story with the most minimal amount of background possible.
Really, it felt like he was recounting the story to someone who already knew the gist of what happened, who was already acquainted with his life, and then he had to throw in explanations for the rest of the audience. I imagine this is always a problem for people writing their memoirs or biographies - walking the line between the real life you lived and telling the story about it. I think Greenberg is probably a good story-teller, but the book felt more like a first draft.

I liked it ... to a point. Though I was not "engrossed" in it. I think in my review of it I said I liked the imagery in points and places. It was good (as non-fiction goes). Not a 100% sure I would have bought it though (thank God for the public library system). What about you?

What did you think?

I finished :)

Anyone else done (or through a sizable portion) and would like to talk about it?

Great choice! I work in a psychiatric hospital so I'll probably love it.

Book for May 2009 is Hurry Down Sunshine.