5 comments about I'll Carry the Fork! Recovering a Life After Brain Injury.

1. My son received a severe brain injury in a car accident almost two years ago. He has made a remarkable recovery. However although I ask him how he feels he can't always tell me, says " I just want to be back to normal" I have really wanted to know exactly what goes on in their brain during the recovery -which of course is on going. This book was just delightful. I loved Kara's honest comments and the way she expressed her feelings. My son does not want to read it but my daughter-in-law does.
   I have to say though, for all of you parents out there who's child has been diagnosed with a severe brain injury, don't despair, Kara's mild brain injury seems a lot more severe in her recovery than my son's!
   Thank you Kara for a wonderful insight into the feelings of a brain injured person. Best of luck for a continued recovery.
   Judy Knott
   Auckland
   New Zealand



2. A great read for a survivor or family member of TBI. Slightly larger print and easy to follow story line. This book puts you in touch with the TRUELY important things in life. Showing some of possitive and humorious bumps in her new learning curve keeps this book from reading like a text book. Wow does it feel better knowing that others share similar experincies.
   I have purchased several of these, one for my daughter, and a couple for friends to help them understand me now.
   If you ever get the chance to meet Kara DO IT, she is uplifting to speak with.



3. A delightful book which takes the author from a tragedy and life change to making her new life the best it can be. A wonderful message for those of us having a family member who is a recent traumatic brain injury survivor. It is written with humor but with a valuable message. The chapters are short and written in a manner our TBI survivor is able to read and comprehend it. Thank you for this book.



4. A delightful book which takes the author from a tragedy and life change to making her new life the best it can be. A wonderful message for those of us having a family member who is a recent traumatic brain injury survivor. It is written with humor but with a valuable message. The chapters are short and written in a manner our TBI survivor is able to read and comprehend it. Thank you for this book.



5. I never fully understood my dad's head injury, but after reading this humorous story of Kara it made me realize the frustrating effects of brain injury. Just a great book over-all and written on the level of a sixth grader, so it makes it an easy read.

5 comments about Prozac Diary.

1. This book was just okay. It was somewhat interesting to read about her experiences with Prozac, but she did a lot of whining about the things that it took away from her, rather than focusing on the fact that it gave her her life back. Her writing is also tangential when she tries to become poetic. Something seemed to be missing. The book felt incomplete or rushed. It is a quick, easy read, but I can't say that I would recommend it.



2. Dr. Lauren Slater woke up one day to discover that Prozac had eliminated one of her most closely held realities - Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder (OCD). This book is a journal of her experiences for the ten years that would follow.
   
   Slater documents her fear of losing that comfortable reality, her ability to write creatively, her disciplined reading and eating habits, her inhibitions and her familiar internal voices. Having survived multiple hospitalizations for anorexia and other medical interpretations of her behavior, Slater agrees to begin therapy with Prozac during the drug's infancy. Her physician, overtly wooed by the pharmaceutical's manufacturer, supplies an ever-increasing dose of the wonder drug without mentioning its side effects and its temporary efficacy. While the author refuses to become the Prozac poster-child, she does experience a significant amount of success with the drug and is forthright about her satisfaction as well as her fears.
   
   Lauren Slater is inspirational on many levels. Not only does she treat the status of her psycho-emotional health as something to be embraced as worthy, she regards this unique piece of her identity as something normal for her in this place and time. Slater acknowledges the need for caution when it comes to safety and well-being without negating the value that an alternate psychological reality can present. In addition to her open-minded views on psychic illness, Slater channeled her experiences into motivation and earned her PhD in psychology. She now sees patients of her own and writes professionally regarding subjects in her field.



3. Lauren Slater was prescribed Prozac in 1988 when the pharmaceutical first came out. She recalls having an almost immediate and "blissed out" feeling. Slater says that Prozac made her "high" and goes on and on about it obsessively as she describes her reaction to Prozac as, "the single most stunning experience of my life." This is rather melodramatic. I have tried Prozac and I have been depressed throughout my life. Taking a pharmacetical like Prozac does not make a person "high."
   
   I have a real problem with the way Slater portrays Prozac as her "drug." She pontificates as if taking an anti-deppressant for DEPPRESSION is shameful, secretive. Slater becomes an intern at a half-way house for "boozers" and is informed that staff member's sign waivers allowing the administration to do random urine screens. Athough Slater does not use any illegal drugs, she panics at the thought of "being revealed." Slater compares herself to the addicts who live at the half-way house. Describing a client, she says "he stared straight at me, one junkie to another..."
   
   It insulting to those of us who have struggled with addiction to have Slater describe herself as a "junkie" because she is over dramatizing her experience with Prozac. It was persribed to her for the treatment of a disease and she was NOT abusing the medication.
   (I am in recovery and have been clean for 3 years). Slater later also considers herself "drug-dependent" and tries to convince the reader of her claim with her interpretation of what The DSM IV calls addiction. I don't buy it, and I don't think anyone who has struggled with drug or alcohol addiction will either. Maybe a reader without a history of addiction and/or depression won't notice that Slater is a phoney and an alarmist. Nobody is buying the "addicted to Prozac" crap.



4. This book follows the story of learning, recovering, and adjusting of a woman, confused
   and feeling alone. Chronicling a young woman's experiences of the late 80's, being one
   of the first to take Prozac, it focuses on the changes and mixed emotions associated with
   taking the new drug. Reality and psychology blend together to form an inspirational story
   for those that can relate. Recommended age 16 and up due to sexual content, adult
   themes, and language.
   
   Based on a true, biographical story, the story behind the author (Slater) is very intriguing.
   Being a somewhat difficult read, following the ups and downs, the story details the life of
   a depressed, suicidal-prone young woman trying to survive in society. Setting up the
   story, it details doctor's visits, past attempts to regain a grasp on her life, and her
   prescribing doctor. Upon actually being prescribed Prozac, the story details the tough
   decision and thought process about being one of the first to take the new psychotropic
   drug. Once making a decision to proceed with the medical treatment, a focus is paid to
   the effects and results. Although changes are felt within the author's attitude and outlook
   on life within very few days, questions are provoked about whether these changes can
   appear in such a short amount of time. A diary-like feel is given to the story when the
   author accounts her days on the drug. In going from depressed to a never before
   experienced happiness, the question of truth behind these feelings is proposed. 888 Over
   the course of her first few weeks on Prozac, Slater personally tests her true happiness and
   ultimate truth behind this happiness. Throughout her treatment period, the author makes
   large progression toward her final goal of happiness, seeking help along the way and
   receiving it where hands extend. Struggle and strength are themes throughout the
   chronicle, displaying conflicts associated with taking a somewhat controversial and
   amateur market drug of the time. Now a large name drug, the unknowns behind it in it's
   early stages are marked within this diary of a young woman pleading for her happiness-
   something she has never truly known.



5. well written. scary details about mental illness. both scary w/ respect to what i might see in myself and what exceeds greatly in a dystopic fashion what i see in myself. is a testament to how well prozac can work, and in that fashion, this memoir is quite effective and honest, although some may call it "over salted" (as Hamlet didn't want his plays to be like over salted dishes.)

5 comments about Mozart and the Whale: An Asperger's Love Story.

1. This is a wonderful autobiographical account of two individuals who suffered with Aspergers all their lives and did not know what was wrong with them. They are not diagnosed until later life. These stories take us from their childhood up to present, their marriage, divorce, and remarriage. I really enjoyed this book although it was depressing at times. I was taking a class in autism and this book helped me see how much suffering a individual with autism must go through on a daily basis.



2. The best way to learn about Aspergers is from what AS people have for sharing! Jerry and Mary share their love story in a way unlike any romance novel you'll find to read. As soon as I began reading this book, I could not put it down until I finished it! It made me laugh, cry, think, and sigh. Never was I bored for even a moment!
   
   What makes this story extra special is that even though Jerry and Mary Newport are both AS people, they provide AS perspectives from their own side. Mary is much more accepting of the unique traits AS gives her than Jerry is. Regardless of this difference between them, they both can understand, appreciate, and accept each another. This is more than what they get from most other people.
   
   The book "Mozart and the Whale" is much better than the movie. The movie is entertaining but the book does a much better job of portraying what AS is like, along with it being more entertaining to read than the movie is to watch.
   
   I was blessed with the opportunity to spend some time with both Jerry and Mary Newport in person after I read their book. They were exactly as I imagined them to be. That must mean their real personalities shine through in this story!



3. 
   Very good book, well written, would recommend it to anyone who someone with autism. AAA+++



4. "Mozart and the Whale" is the story of two people with Asperger's. Despite their areas of competence and even brilliance (Jerry and mathematics), they fail to rise above entry-level jobs such as taxi-driver, librarian assistant, cashier, etc. due to being held back by lacking normal career drive and planning, unpredictable and uncontrollable rages, inability to form normal social relationships and emotional connections, not answering the phone at times, and self-focus, as well as inappropriate job behavior.
   
   The authors take us through their early lives, meeting and marrying, splitting, and finally joining up again. The bad news is that both come close to suicide, and the good news is that they eventually find happiness together.
   
   What is the solution? Jerry suggests understanding adults during one's early life are very helpful, but that marrying Asperger's people together is not a solution - eg. the male/female ratio is about 4:1.
   
   My "frustration" with the book? That so much is lost due to a slightly different DNA, internal brain wiring and/or chemical balance.



5. After seeing the movie and meeting Jerry and Mary Newport really wanted and needed the book. Usually like books over the movies. So glad to have and I am reading it right now. Good to have it.

5 comments about The Little Locksmith: A Memoir.

1. This book has been sitting around on my shelf since I was a child. I thought it was a child's book when I was young, but couldn't read it. I just pulled it off the shelf again, and have discovered what will become one of my favorite books about hope, determination, the power of positive thinking, and art - its struggles, its blisses, its importance. It is a must read for any writer, or for that matter, any artist who struggles with stealing time to do their art without feeling somehow guilty, or fearful, or terribly isolated. It is about transcendance despite ridiculous odds. It is an amazing, amazing book. I'm so glad I got around to it.



2. This book is enchanting, wonderful, and beyond description, except to say it is a testament to the human spirit.
   
   If you read this and loved it, also look at "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," by Jean-Dominique Bauby. If you can't imagine living on your back for ten years, try imagining writing a book using only the ability to blink one eye, to dictate letter by letter. Tis book is another testament to the human spirit.



3. This book is amazing, I am 15 and I read it, my mother at 39 read it, my grandma read it and my younger sister at 13 read it. Everyone takes away some different, but something wonderful from this book. It is absolutely indescribable, you have to read it; right now, order it, read it, it will change your outlook on life.



4. This is a beautiful book on so many levels. The author's voice, the author's spirit, the author's technique of storytelling are awe inspiring. If you have been led to this page, take it as a sign and order this book, reading it is an experience and I can't wait to read it again. If you are looking for a gift to give someone else then this is it, but read it first yourself so that you can trully share it.



5. My husband gave this book to me and I am truly enjoying it! Katharine sees things from a rare perspective. Her life transformed her into someone that could see deep into even the most mundane subjects. I feel a new appreciation for even the sounds of crickets! She was certainly a person who's cup was always half full! This book is like welcome raindrops, enveloping you and staying with you long after the drops have evaporated!

5 comments about Living in the Labyrinth: A Personal Journey Through the Maze of Alzheimer's.

1. This book was well done with frightening information about the dreadful disease of Alzheimer's. Unfortunately, the copyright is 1993 and I would love an update. There are new things that are helping with Alzheimer's every day. Every 72 seconds another person has been diganosed with Alzheimer's (according to Alzheimer's Desease Research)so we need more books like this that are more recent.



2. Thank you for your quick service and amazing availability. I have checked over half a dozen places for my new book and no one seems to carry it! I appreciate your speedy shipping as it comes in handy when I need something soon.



3. This is a magnificent addition to the small but growing oeuvre of those telling it like it is from within the shadow of Alzheimer's. Unlike Kuhn's "Alzheimer's Early Stages" who offers a Prozac to those of us who defy his Polyannish view of a CRS' mental functioning without seeking insights from those who remain lucid and analytical and rational within, despite our infrequent "windows of clarity", McGowan tells it like it is for some of us: warts, fistulae, et al. She does not hold back from her anger, depression and increased libido. [Discretely, I have observed that the female party in an ALZ pairing, whether caregiver or ALZer, seems to be affected by ALZ as if it were a female aphrodasiac, whereas the male is threatened by his partner's increased "horniness." Studies of sexual activities in aging environments seems to confirm this casual observation, which appears psychological rather than physiological, i.e. it seems not related to the physical phenomena of erectile dysfunction, or loss of vaginal lubrication, but rather a soritin reward for coping with the stress of ALZ.

   McGowan's struggles with those who demanded that she surrender control over her completed opus are mirrored in our daily lives as our caregivers, facilitators, and M.S.W.'ers "command" that we
   that we surrender our remaining identities since these are an obstacle for those who "know what is best for us;" and regard disobedience as defiance by ADHD juveniles.

   McGowan's book could have used a considerate and conservative collaborator and/or editor to polish the rough diamond she has put forth, just as DeBaggio's "Losing My Mind" cries out for polishing, which refining Snyder's "Speaking Our Minds" exemplifies. But both McGowan and DeBaggio give us the raw data, from which we we middle stage ALZheimers desperately need so that we are not be alone nor terminally unique.

   Interstingly, McGowan justifiably claims credit for instigating an Alzheimer support group, where none existed [there are an abundance of groups and "Idiot's Guides" for caregivers, but these tend, like Alanon, to be pity pots of anger and resentment directed at those of us with middle stage Rapid Onset "Late Onset" diagnoses, who have not yet deteriorated like Iris Murdoch into vocal or literary aphasia although the communicating becomes more difficult as the Ah!HA!s of insight flee much too rapidly. [I do not envison heaven for those who forget that one must recall spelling in order to use a dictionary or word processer!]

   Like Strauss' "Speaking to Alzheimers", "Living in the Labyrinth" is an ideal guide of "Do's & Dont's for those who wish to communicate with us, without inflicting their own anger and resentment into us.

   A "Must Read" for ALZers, Caregivers, Facilitators, and others who do not have Closed Minds regarding those of us who assure them that there is "A Human Thinking Within" the quickly closing walls of outward communication, acknowledgement, and recognition.

   On the other hand, "cursed be those who have eyes and do not see, and ears which do not hear;" [Jeremiah & Ezekiel] vasecors et amens.




4. Living in the Labyrinth is one of the first books I read when I began researching Alzheimer's disease. It is a gripping account of Alzheimer's disease from the inside. I found myself reading the whole book in one sitting.



5. When I first began my zealous quest to understand the disease of Alzheimer's, I stumbled across this book. To this day, it remains the most influential book I've read for understanding stages 1-5. Written in first person, it provides a soul-revealing glimpse into the maze of AD as one woman shares her quest to deal with the loss of function and depression accompanying this stage of the journey. Years later, I still pick it up occassionally to reconnect.

5 comments about How Starbucks Saved My Life.

1. Really.... Save the holier than thou literary garbage for some never got layed Ivory league professor who couldn't hold a normal job with normal people if his life was on the line. Fact is most...I mean most! normal folks would enjoy this type of reading while on vacation or waiting in a airport terminal. That is the market for this, if not most publishing. I am so tired of some unaccomplished idiot's remarks that really mean nothing to 95 percent of the population. Listen fools!!! I have never met a soul (outside of the few I mentioned before) who thought A Tale of Two Cities was ..well.....good! or half the writing of Harwthorn and lets not forget the garbage and crap in old waldens pond!!! Really, most folks would rather read Mad magazine..and the fact that they are still publishig Mad after 30 years...well there is my pudding and proof!! Get a life. Oh, now it your turn to live up to the starnards I mentiona nd say..oh look at Ace's grammer...oh, he misspelled this or that...have fun, but I have a good life with good friends and well........lots of real GOOD books that us nothings share..



2. I wanted to like this book, I really did. The premise was great - a man who's had everything pretty much handed to him most of his life loses his job and has to learn the value of hard labor. Along the way he learns that he has been prejudiced and unfair in his perceptions of others.
   
   As great as the premise was, the resulting book was just slightly short of terrible. Gill does not have a talent for writing (to say the least) and the whole memoir sounds like a long conversation. He dips into his past on almost every page and often for no reason, and has no connections that make the memoir an interconnected piece, instead of a jumbled collection of memories.
   
   I appreciate his struggles and his attempts to make the best out of a bad situation, but the reality is, stories like his happen every day. There are plenty of displaced executives working as waiters, and doctors from other countries who are reduced to cashiering jobs at a local pharmacy (I've worked with many of them). While it's great that Gill wanted to bring light to his experience, he should have done justice to himself and others in his shoes and written a more coherent book.



3. Michael Gates Gill grew up in a wealthy household, graduated from Yale University, and had a lucrative career with a top advertising agency in New York. When he hit his 60's he lost his prestigious job, had a health scare, and had a strained relationship with several of his five children. Frightened by his inability to support himself, he took a job at Starbuck's which was offered to him half-heartedly and partly in jest while he was in a store as a customer. The job and his co-workers changed his life dramatically and his whole attitude took on a new and more positive tone.
   
   One criticism of this book is that the author tends to ramble at times, as his thoughts jump back and forth between his old life and his new one. I also got a little tired of his name-dropping each time something reminded him of a time he spent with one of his father's celebrity friends. Despite these flaws, however, the story remains a pretty amazing one and the book is quite entertaining.



4. When I picked this book out at the library, I knew I was in for a sappy, corny, gimmicky literary ride, but I was hoping that the narrator would at least provide some quasi-intriguing insights into how Starbucks' corporate values and philosophies can be applied to life's everyday trials and tribulations (plus curveballs like acute illness). Let me just say, hahahahaha. Michael Gates Gill is the most unsympathetic of characters imaginable. He's insufferably clueless, but if he actually had one iota of insight, he'd realize that everything he says just serves as fodder for the reader to further despise him.
   
   So, Gill sets the stage by letting us know that for the majority of his life he has been racist, elitist, adulterous, selfish, and an absent husband and wife. For instance, when he is first describing the mother of his youngest child, he says he was reluctant to interact with her because he "did not have affairs...especially with people [he] met at a less-than-exclusive gym." All of this is especially heinous because he is completely unaware of how offensive he is. Even if he were to do a complete 180, he's already painted himself as such a naïve, pathetic egotist that we're not even rooting for him (at least not me). But this is largely theoretical, since whatever miraculous transformation he claims to have undergone is revealed to be complete pretense on almost every other page. First of all, this book is a total exercise in name-dropping. Somehow he manages to liken his first opening at the Manhattan Starbucks' store to running the bulls in Spain in order to impress Ernest Hemingway. As he brings out the big guns with Frank Sinatra and Muhammad Ali (not to say that Papa isn't a big gun too), you can just feel him desperately clinging on to a past that he has supposedly left behind in favor of his new Starbucks-engendered humble and grateful outlook on life. (I mean, how humble can you expect a guy to be when he admits, "I had called my business Michael Gates Gill & Friends because I was in love with the sonorous sounds of my full name."?) Even his disapproving father, the psychic ties with whom he has supposedly cut with the help of Starbucks and his manager Crystal, makes a prominent appearance in the author's bio ("the son of New Yorker writer Brendan Gill"). Since when does a 64 year-old writer need to use his father to sell his books? I even thought for a moment that the quote of praise by a Thomas Moore on the back of the book might have been a mischievous form of name-dropping, placed there with the hopes that readers would be stupid enough to think Gill had managed to exhume his personal buddy Sir Thomas More to extract some words of praise from the famous philosopher. Gill's eureka moments ring totally hollow and false. He'll say something to the effect of, "I suddenly realized, standing there on the subway platform, that I had ruined my son's life by putting my work ahead of my children." Or when he's reminiscing about his daughter, Annie, graduating from high school, he tells us, "I realized with a pained clarity that I had missed so many precious moments with her, and with all my children." Another endearing revelation: "I felt an actual pain in my heart at that moment, realizing with regret my arrogant assumption that God had created me and those like me to rule because we were worthier than other races of people." There's no development of any of these insights; they just happen "suddenly" (one of Gill's favorite words: "I was suddenly feeling the whole in my heart," "Why was I suddenly thinking of him?"). His language in general is so stilted. When his soon-to-be boss warns him that the work as a barista is no walk in the park, he replies, "I know. But I will work hard for you. I promise you this." Who talks like that?
   
   
   I get the impression that Gill had a reasonably good idea for a book and title that would sell and then either decided to write it under the influence of some highly intoxicating substance or managed to convince a plethora of monkeys to write the book for him.
   Seriously, it's not even spell-checked or edited, up to the final page of the acknowledgements where he manages to screw up the alphabetical order in the list of Starbucks' partners he wishes to thank. This was one of those books that is so awful that you keep reading and reading just out of curiosity as to whether or not it will ever redeem itself. Well, that, in and of itself, was the book's only redeeming quality.



5. I heard of this book on NPR, I think. Because I heard about it on NPR, I think, I figured it was a credible work of art. As luck would have it I was in the condominium's library and this book was sitting there, so I grabbed it, and over the course of a weekend read it.
   
   What I liked about this book was that I read it and finished it. It was an hyper-easy read. The average American doesn't read one book a year, and as this is only August I am one up on the average American. That is what I liked about the book.
   
   What I didn't like about it was the way it was written and the hyper-dramatics of the writing. Oh my god, the front register! Oh my god, stocking the pastries! Oh my god, opening the store! Oh my god, closing the store!
   
   The Starbucks advertising. I love Starbucks myself, but this book goes way over the top and becomes nothing more than an infomercial for the store. Is it really necessary to list all of the scone flavors? All the wonderfulness of all the management? This book is like a 15 on the suck-up-o-meter.
   
   The book seemed to be written for (by) a child, or an adult with a child like mind. I'm not embarrassed for Mr. Gill as this is his gravy train and he has more money and fame than I ever will, but he writes like and 11 year old.
   
   The other thing was the flashback and name dropping. He is asked to see the supervisor, which leads to a three page flashback about something. Everything is a flash back to meeting a famous person, which grows wearisome after a while.
   
   The premise of the story is a wonderful one, maybe Mr. Gill can give it another shot ans see if he gets it right the second time.

5 comments about Poster Child: A Memoir.

1. I especially appreciated the authors in depth reflexions on disability and body image, both as a child and an adult, especially for women (in her case) but for all of us.



2. This is a very special and unusual work. Emily's description of growing up with a deformed leg, and all that entailed is honest and difficult at times to read. Nonetheless, there is no self pity, just a straigtforward and detailed description of what it was like emotionally, physcially and spiritually. There is a lot of pain in this book but it is really a coming of age story as well. The writing is wonderful. It is very personal and yet informative especially about the efforts to obtain a prosthiesis that allowed Emily to function as normally as possible and the advancements made in the field over a 20 year period. Finally, the unwavering love and sacrifice of her parents was portrayed simply and gratefully. I read it twice and the second time was better!



3. I love to read memoirs, especially "little guy" memoirs. Celebrity memoirs are okay, especially if the celebrity is a writer, but time after time I'm drawn to books written by ordinary people. I find it easy to imagine myself in their lives. So it was small wonder that I gravitated to POSTER CHILD with its cover picture of a pert red-headed girl posing with her training bike. It's warm out. She's wearing shorts. Her artificial right leg looks like it's made of plastic; a bulb in its knee joint lets her pedal.
   
   Emily Rapp, the author and the poster child, turned out to be a remarkable writer. She told me her story in such detail, including emotional detail, that I was swept into her anguish of being a child and a young woman who had a portion of her leg amputated when four. I had no idea, really, when I picked up this book what living with an artificial leg would be like. But soon I felt I was alongside her as she went through dozens of operations to replace her artificial leg as she outgrew it.
   
   Listen to how clearly Rapp writes. "For my first fitting, I stood barefoot on the dirty floor of the changing room while the prosthetist took measurements of my stump. The stink of the healing wound was finally gone; the limb was clean. Now that the left foot had been removed, or "disarticulated"--the sharp sound of the word matching the rough nature of the action itself--I had my natural heel at the end of the short leg."
   
   But no wonder Rapp writes well. A Fulbright Scholarship recipient educated at Harvard, she is a professor in the M.F.A. program at Antioch University Los Angeles.
   
   I highly recommend this book, primarily for the skill with which Rapp leads us through the first thirty years of her life, showing us what it was like to live with her "grievous, irrevocable flaw." Unflinchingly honest and sometime darkly humorous, POSTER CHILD is written without sentiment. I watched her struggle to keep up with her fashionable friends, her agony about making love to a man (should she leave her prosthesis on? off?), her final, tenuous, gift of acceptance.
   
   An elegant writer, an amazing book.
   
   Marilyn Coffey is an award-winning writer of poetry and a widely published author of prose. Read her work at Amazon.com: GREAT PLAINS PATCHWORK, MARCELLA, or KANSAS QUARTERLY Vol. 15 No. 2.



4. Rapp's beautiful description takes you through the crowded streets of Korea, the romantic cafes of Dublin, the dingy offices of doctor after doctor as she tries to get a leg that fits, all the way to the brutally honest mirror in her bathroom. Or is it yours? Her story is frank and engaging. Her struggle one that each one of us can identify with at some point in our lives: the struggle to be "normal."
   Poster Child is one of those books that makes you question your own values and assumptions. Poster Child is one of those books that will stay with you forever.



5. One of the best autobiographies I've read. It's heartwrenching, but with no self-pity. It's also funny and dry with great prose and turn of phrase. Outstanding!

5 comments about Man, Interrupted: Welcome to the Bizarre World of OCD, Where Once More is Never Enough.

1. This enlightening yet funny book takes you through the story of one mans recovery from OCD. A very entertaining easy read that will not only open your eyes to the many forms of OCD and the toll it takes on its sufferers, but will also show you ways of overcoming them. A brilliant read for all.



2. I was eager to read this book as I am every book on an individual's struggle with OCD. While a worthy effort, I didn't think the author spent enough time concentrating on his own OCD, and a bit too much time poking fun at his fellow patients' symptoms. I was disappointed in that aspect. Overall a very honest account, and I applaud the author for writing it, but his girl chasing habits and the amount of time devoted to that issue can get rather old.



3. Through my sister, I have had the pleasure of being acquainted with Mr. Bailey himself. Before reading his book, I did not know much about him, only that he was a very jovial fellow. So it is no wonder why my jaw dropped periodically while reading Man Interrupted. I could not believe that the events unfolding on the pages before me were from the life of this man whom I saw so frequently. The experience of being acquainted with Mr. Bailey and reading his book reminded me that everyone has a story of their own, explaining who they are, where they come from, and what trials they had to overcome (and Mr. Bailey's were no small feat). Man Interrupted gives great insight into a world that many people may not think about. At the same time it is hilarious, relatable, and touching. I actually laughed out loud, which is a rare occurrence when I read. It is one of the most engrossing books I have ever read, and is worth every penny and minute spent on it.



4. Until last week, I didn't know the slightest thing about him, or about his book, until he went and introduced himself through MySpace, something that led to the inevitable reading of said book, and something that I'm really glad that I did. It's 222 pages of one of the most incredibly well written, fresh and original books that you're ever likely to read, a word of warning though, it really will make you question yourself, and exactly how pernickety you are. We all have an OCD, we may not realise it, or we do, and it's just insignificant, but we rarely externalises our OCD, are never forced to justify it, or explain it away, usually we're able to sufficiently hide it enough to function, but it wouldn't take much for everyone to collapse under the weight of it, and only a small percentage could ever do what James Bailey did, namely building himself back up. All of the patients in his book really do stand out too, because they're chillingly real, but then I suppose that's because they actually are, but he's managed to render them better than anyone else could have. It really is like reading the transcript of a Docu-Soap, and I'm not talking about an episode of "Cops", but an English one, because it's unapologetic, and gritty. What James Bailey has written is brutally honest, and I don't think that I've ever read that level of honestly, that level of shameless exposure; he made me feel like I lived it with him. Reading this book made me look at myself a little differently, maybe a little more clearly, but it also made me a friend in James Bailey, and that was well worth the cost of a good book ;-)



5. There were 2 things that struck me in particular when reading this book.
   One was James' honesty which enables the reader to acquire a rare and fascinating insight into the life of an individual suffering from such a disabling & severe condition.
   I learned a heck of a lot about OCD through reading this book & I found it most fascinating to read about James' real life experiences.
   Secondly was the humour that was rife throughout the book. James is clearly blessed with the ability to transform any scenario, no matter how daunting, into something so funny it just tickles you.
   I loved every word. Brilliant.

5 comments about I Remember Running: The Year I Got Everything I Ever Wanted - and ALS.

1. I was hoping that this book would be an uplifting account of hope to encourage my husband who was recently diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease. It was NOT. Would not recommend it.



2. This is a book I find myselfing re-reading a couple times a year (and I don't tend to re-read books). Inspiring, truthful, I feel I could really relate and understand the author. Love this book! Truly beautiful. She left a precious gift to her readers. Highly recommend. Please read other reviews to learn about the content of this book.



3. This book is very easy & quick to read - good for those who don't like to spend a lot of time reading one book.
   
   As I was reading this book, I could easily relate to Darcy's frustration. A few years ago, I had a neurological problem where my muscles were slowly becoming weak, and I could hardly walk or move. It was extremely exhausting just getting out of bed. Thankfully, my problem was resolved, but I remember at the time watching other people go about their normal business, like walking etc, and thinking "They are walking so easily, like they don't have to think about it", yet I had to think about everything I did, just like Darcy.
   
   I felt genuine empathy for Darcy, and I am so happy that she lived her last year with so much happiness, despite her terminal illness.
   
   This book reminds me of another I have read recently by Kim Dalton "The Real Fight". Recommended reading.



4. Years ago I took an essay writing class with Darcy Wakefield. She was an aspiring writer and a pleasant person. I'm sorry that her first success at publishing came under such tragic circumstances. Reading her memoir, I wish I had known her better. She is smart, funny, and real. I'm glad she found personal happiness, motherhood, and spirituality before she died.



5. I went to a reading by Darcy shortly before her death. Her sister read short passages, as Darcy with ALS by that time could not do so. Darcy, herself, answered audience questions. She was alight with life and her book, with its candor and humor is a beacon of hope and a challenge for us all!

5 comments about Electroboy: A Memoir of Mania.

1. As someone that does not suffer from BiPolar Disorder, I was hoping to gain some insight into the mind of someone that suffers from this illness. I never felt that from this book, I could not understand how his compulsive actions actually stemmed from his illness. He seemed to me to be suffering from a huge case of narcissism.



2. I really hate to rate any book with only one star. I give the author credit for writing a book that got published. Otherwise, I couldn't finish this one. I bought it largely due to the fact that the author was present at a DBSAlliance conference outside Chicago that I also attended, and I wanted to show support to another person with Bipolar...there the loyalty ends.
   
   This was, to me, almost unreadable. I felt it was too narcissistic, too poorly written, too...well, manic. I mean, I really appreciate reading books by people who focus on themselves when they have a lucid story to relate, but this book was painfully lacking in any lucidity. It is always uncomfortable to me to read or listen to someone who is in the throes of mania - after a certain point you just want to leave to room. Too many words with nothing to say but aren't I interesting, grand, wildly amusing, and don't I live the life. Well, no, you aren't and you don't. A real turn-off. I had absolutely no sympathy, empathy, or ability to relate to this person, and no time to waste finishing this ode to Andy. I mean, in the big scheme of things, who cares?



3. The best book on manic depressive episodes with light towards the end of the tunnel. If you or a close relative or friend is in the throes of this terrible predicament, almost a life sentence of sorts, you should read this book. Its not an undertone of pessimism or another will-bring-tears type of book, rather a delightfully readable surmise of manic episodes. The speed of narration speeds up in the beginning with the pace of racing thoughts and then slows down with the downs of depression. A not so thrilling roller coaster ride for the protagonist, but for you, maybe, or even entertaining if you like reading books on psychology. This is not a book about the disease per-se or even electricity or any neurological disorder associated with the term, but a memoir of struggle, perhaps an active and electrical experience of the manic episodes, and the title does justice. The electro-convulsive therapy blends in the title towards the end, although to no avail, another modern snake oil for the refractive nature of the beast. Read it and you will like it, and if you are worried, it is not heavy to lift with hand or mind.



4. I work with the mentally ill and have a particularly difficult client who has multiple mental illness diagnoses and a personality disorder. In my opinion, his bipolar diagnosis is the one that has wreaked the most havoc in his life and in the lives of his caregivers and loved ones. Prior to reading Electroboy, I wrote to the Andy, the author, who answered immediately, saying he was very busy, but would write more in a few days, when he was back home. He wrote again, as he said he would and though he was not able to provide a lot of help or insight, he offered what he could, in the way of advice. I much appreciated the author taking time to respond to me. I bought and read Andy's book later (mostly out of appreciation for his help, as the reviews had not been great). After all this, I'm sorry to say that my review of the book is "just OK". It is sort of a diary of events, without much insight into the mind of a bi-polar. In fairness to Andy, he may just not realize how very difficult it is for the average reader, who is not bipolar, to understand the workings of the mind, or the rationalizations of someone who is bipolar.



5. A previous reviewer (El Lagarto) hit the nail almost exactly except, to me, the narcissism here fails to dazzle. While the the author's prose style does uncannily mimic his condition (bipolar disorder, here for some reason referred to by its prior designation of manic depression, making each specific reference to it seem like a literary device), that's part of the problem, really. The helter skelter style allows for no real reflection, and it's the literary equivalent of a sore throat--irritating and hard to swallow in places, especially, for one example, when Behrman relates very specifically his dreams, which blend way too seamlessly with the context of his life at given points, making their content seem invented.
   
   While parts are very affecting--particulary the author's need to apologize for his condition to his parents, and his shame at having failed them--on the whole, this is more of a celebration of a meaningless lifestyle than it is an honest look at a disease. The author seems almost to want to be envied. Behrman is non-self-judgemental to the degree that he cannot even see his own complicity in his condition--the boozing and drugging (ad nauseum, page after page after page, in excruciating detail) can exacerbate greatly the effects of the disease yet it is not until nearly the book's last pages that he sees fit to mention the fact after one of his l-o-n-g line of therapists points it out to him.
   
   That long line of psychologists and psychiatrists points up another fact: Behrman was lucky indeed to be able to afford top-notch healthcare, and it is in part because he takes that for granted that, perhaps, he kept on (and on, and ON) with the self-treatment (liquor, drugs, sex) even while he was receiving what on the whole sounds like excellent treatment--spoiled and rich, he gains no real rapport with a general audience by taking such things for granted and continuing, in his breezy manner (the book IS well-written in spite of its wrongheaded tone and over-aggressive, snarky style, and interesting--I enjoyed the tour of the art world and descriptions of its denizens well enough), to recount his art sales, drug deals, liquor intake, and sexual conquests.
   
   His conviction for having sold at great profit a number of forged Kostabi paintings is dealt with as if he thinks he did nothing wrong except get caught. True, Kostabi's work was itself manufactured, but this does not mitigate for a minute Behrman's own crime--knowingly defrauding buyers and profiting greatly by doing so. We're expected to applaud his dishonesty and to feel fortunate to accompany him abroad while he does his deals; the reader is expected to nod knowingly when a rental car, paid for by a canceled credit card, is blithely left in airport parking because "someone will find it." That's nudge-wink tosh. I came to this book with an open mind and left it with one accordingly padlocked--the great post-punk band Magazine's line "My mind ain't so open / That anything can crawl right in" fits this book to a 'T.'
   
   Being bipolar myself and having struggled mightily with the condition--albeit on a lower-middle-class income sans health insurance--of course I feel for Behrman and his struggles, but his off-putting prose style and unreflective take on the disease in question, PARTICULARLY his failure to acknowledge any blame for the massive exacerbation of his condition via the overwhelming (and preening) accounts of his wretched excesses, renders this book as glib and thus almost as meaningless as the author's lifestyle--not to mention his lack of gratitude for being to the manor born and thus being able to afford top treatment. One does hope he continues this treatment because, based on his prose style and the book's false message, he's far from out of the dark shadow of his disease.