Joey’s review of The Best Minds: A Story of Friendship, Madness, and the Tragedy of Good Intentions > Likes and Comments

The “digressions” you found so annoying filled out a story that could not be told without Michael Laudor’s consent and cooperation. You know FAR less about Michael's life than you think you do. As you mentioned, Michael and Jonathan were NOT friends. If Michael really felt like Jonathan was his friend, he would have trusted Jonathan enough to confide in him, even for a project as public as a biography. Just consider you own life, for a moment. Could it be recalled accurately by your abusive family? By educators who evaded their legal obligations to you? By doctors who trampled almost all of your rights? By “friends” like Jonathan, who envied or felt “inconvenienced” by your intelligence, courage, compassion, and creativity? Could *anyone* who hadn’t seen you in almost 30 years really tell your story as well as you could? Despite what you’ve been told by Jonathan Rosen, Michael is and was much more than a “problem”, a “patient”, and a “criminal”. If you care about Michael as a human being and not as a “character” in this bullshit “story”, you’ll criticize what Jonathan said about him as much as you’ve criticized Jonathan’s “digressions”.

I see your points about Jonathan not really being a friend of Michael and glad I am not the only one who noticed Rosen’s absence from Michael’s life for years until his visits to the mental facility Michael was sentenced to. I would love to read a more personal account of Michael once he went to college and into the workplace prior to his first breakdown. I definitely believe Rosen’s perspective was colored by his early competitiveness with Michael and possible jealousy of his huge early success. Hopefully, my review didn’t lead you to believe I didn’t care about Michael the person, otherwise I definitely wouldn’t have made it to the end of this very long book.

Your review was good. Much more observant than other reviews and, blessedly, devoid of contempt for Michael Laudor. I, too, would like to read a first-person story about Michael. I thought I was the only person who believed I could be a “flaming schizophrenic” when I finally became educated, employed, partnered, etc. . Fortunately, I had family and friends who were mature enough to let me know that I’d have to lead a low-profile Mad life. Michael was such a visionary. He deserves a TRUE story and some measure of the visibility he sought. Anyone should be able to have those things.

I can tell your both very passionate and personally affected by this subject, and probably know a lot more about it than I do. I believe you when you say it was an unfair treatment of him. The mentally ill definitely deserve to be respected and given a chance at independent living if capable. I wish you the best.

Thanks, Joey. Objectively, there were many things wrong with “The Best Minds”: shoddy "research", eugenics-driven public policy "proposals", a main subject who was not interviewed, a lack of interest and/or knowledge about Carrie Costello, cultural "criticism" aimed at defining "culture" down (i.e. "culture" that excludes Mad thinkers and artists). But, you’re also right about my personal stake in this “story”. Michael Laudor and I have so much in common and his life goals were so noble, much more so than mine. For me, it was an outrage to read 500+ pages of sanist “explanations” for why he “deserves” the miserable life he has had. I wish you the best, too. And, I appreciate your support for the inclusion of Mad people in mainstream society. We want the same things as everyone else. The pursuit of the American Dream should not be a living nightmare for ANYONE!!!

Great review, Joey!

I agree with you. The author is self deprecating at the beginning, but half the time I struggled to understand a point he was making because it was so wordy. Like he was trying to prove how smart he really is. I am familiar with Yale. I lived in the next town over and know many Yale graduates. The author dropped names right and left about important people in his hometown and at Yale. Was this necessary? Sounded like name dropping. But he could be incredibly observant and compassionate and if he had just shortened the book and focused on Michael and the healthcare system, it could have been a better book in my opinion.

Catherine wrote: "I agree with you. The author is self deprecating at the beginning, but half the time I struggled to understand a point he was making because it was so wordy. Like he was trying to prove how smart h..."
Good points for sure. There were definitely times that I felt the author was intentionally writing in such a detailed and technical manner, he was letting the reader know how brilliant he is. Although impressive… not fun to read

Catherine wrote: "I agree with you. The author is self deprecating at the beginning, but half the time I struggled to understand a point he was making because it was so wordy. Like he was trying to prove how smart h..."


Jonathan Rosen didn’t interview Michael Laudor, so there was no way for him to focus on Laudor’s life or his dehumanizing psychiatric “care”. Rosen was equipped to do only two things in this book: bloviate and spew anti-Mad hate.

I’m half way through The Best Minds. First off I appreciate the nostalgia. I’m most likely his age or near to it. I can re-call most of what he has talked about in our culture, society, current events. I’m not sure the point the author wrote the book. It seemed like more of a friendship he had with a childhood friend. Not the difficult life he’s friend was having with his emotional issues that bloomed into schizophrenia. I picked up the book because it was raved as one of the best non-fiction in 2023. Since I can’t comment yet about liking or disliking the book. I will comment on a couple things. The book is easy to read and follow. At times it feels like it’s bogged down in technical scientific facts. Was he trying to tell us how bad society and the psychiatric profession treat the mentally ill? I felt like when it came to facts he distanced himself and became less personal. He wrote it like a research paper you would have done in sociology class. I’m a retired psychiatric nurse and would have appreciated his writing if it was more personal. He didn’t and couldn’t contribute what Michael was actually going through when his life changed. Because he was no longer in his life. His behavior, character, physical, mental, social issues. As a psychiatric nurse, I would have liked to know what he was going through. Dishelved, poor hygiene, slurred speech, disconnect, monotone voice, animated or not for example. Nothing was mentioned about signs and symptoms of a mental break before someone has their first psychotic episode. I’m sure readers would have like to know on a personal level. I am disappointed thinking the storytelling was on a personal level, not. Very distant, and disconnected. I have a son with bipolar so I expected more. If this was about mental illness it wasn’t. If it was about a friendship that separated, maybe. It was missing something. I appreciated him writing about his Jewish culture, and NY. Some people who read it can relate. There are more non-fiction memoirs about mental illness has been published and has more meaning. Just understand what he has accomplished and solved by writing about his school age friend. I haven’t decided if I will go on. There are many more non-fiction that deserve top honor than this.

Susan wrote: "I’m half way through The Best Minds. First off I appreciate the nostalgia. I’m most likely his age or near to it. I can re-call most of what he has talked about in our culture, society, current eve..."

Jonathan Rosen didn’t need to be in Michael Laudor’s life before he wrote a book about him. He needed to do only one thing: Spend the YEARS it would have taken him to thoroughly interview his main subject. And, if Laudor told him to piss off or Laudor’s quacks ran him out of the prison, then scrap the Laudor content and focus on his own life. JFC, this is not hard!!!

@susan, I so agree. I feel like I’m reading a thesis or term paper in many parts. This doesn’t need to be nearly as long as it is! Where was the editor? The story is much better when focused on Michael and there is way too much straying from this subject.

I’m proud of myself for finally finishing! Overall, an interesting and compelling read…….but it was definitely tough going for a while. There was so
much detail that detracted from the story. I much prefer just enough detail to make me want to find out more on my own; not so much that my eyes glaze over and I lose the focus of the story.

Yes, yes, and yes. I find myself skipping through the writer's nostalgia.

Completely agree. The story of Michael is captivating but he tends to stray too far away in many instances

Accurate! I loved the first third, struggled with the weight of the theory in the second third, and loved the last third.

Stefani wrote: "Accurate! I loved the first third, struggled with the weight of the theory in the second third, and loved the last third."

The “Best Minds” think alike. 😂

I am half-way thru the book and as mentioned by other readers, this is an interesting story but one bogged down with so much physco babble that you begin to lose empathy for Michael and his painful life. Hope to love the last third as other readers have.

Completely agree. Way too long and detailed on too many topics.

I 1000% agree with everything you wrote.

I also agree. Fascinating story but sometimes it is too much like a textbook. Enjoyed it anyway.

Your reasons for not liking the book, are my reasons for giving it a 5. Michael's role in changing views about the illness couldn't have been as clear without the detailed history and context.

Couldn’t disagree more from all the comments. I live every single word and nothing is wasted or unnecessary. It’s so compelling, the sorry of Michael, the world he and the author were born into, the history of mental illness treatment - I have never been absorbed more from a book.

I am over halfway through and agree with the sentiment of too many words. I often find myself having to reread because I get lost in a sentence that is way too long or para that deviates from the previous ones. However, the writing in general is beautiful and the story well told so far!

See I’m a psy RN I like the psy stuff. Sounds like the perfect book to me lol!

I strongly agree I’m about 50% through and I don’t feel like finishing it, it keeps diverting from Michael’s experience which I’m dying to learn more about that I just don’t feel motivated to finish, I keep finding myself skipping ahead on the “tangent” into other works.

I find the background details of the role of the legal system VERY important to this story. The legal and psychological theories that existed had a profound effect on Michael's treatment (or lack thereof), and thus the final horrible outcome. Those laws and faulty theories are still making an impact today.