kellyzen's review
5.0
Someone asked Mark Vonnegut how he is different from someone without mental illness. He responded, “I’m just like someone without mental illness, only more so.” Instantly, I have a new favorite book title of all time. I found myself unable to approach this book with a neutral stance. Nothing wrong with that; it just makes my star rating idiosyncratic, influenced as it is by shared moreness/excess/whatever you want to call it.
In this memoir, Mark Vonnegut broadly details the psychotic breaks that resulted in a diagnosis of schizophrenia, which was later amended to a diagnosis of manic depression, which is now termed bipolar disorder in a bid to reduce stigma. (His response to that effort: “Good luck.” I loled.)
He also includes meditations on being a doctor, the role of art, being Kurt Vonnegut’s son (which does not seem easy), and America’s broken medical system. Comparisons to his father must be frustrating, but there are moments of undeniable symmetry in their sardonicism and they brought me true joy.
Some choice quotes:
On the indignity of not getting admitted to the good mental hospital:
Without prelude or explanation, I'm in four-point restraints in my boxer shorts on a gourney of the hospital where I once trained and currently still work. I'm [a Harvard Medical School] alum, HMS faculty. . . and I didn't even get into McLean's?
On the cruelty of his illness:
I was so quickly in tatters, what was the good of all that overachievement? It should have taken longer for my proud crust of wellness to be so utterly gone.
On art:
Without art you're stuck with yourself as you are and life as you think it is.
In this memoir, Mark Vonnegut broadly details the psychotic breaks that resulted in a diagnosis of schizophrenia, which was later amended to a diagnosis of manic depression, which is now termed bipolar disorder in a bid to reduce stigma. (His response to that effort: “Good luck.” I loled.)
He also includes meditations on being a doctor, the role of art, being Kurt Vonnegut’s son (which does not seem easy), and America’s broken medical system. Comparisons to his father must be frustrating, but there are moments of undeniable symmetry in their sardonicism and they brought me true joy.
Some choice quotes:
On the indignity of not getting admitted to the good mental hospital:
Without prelude or explanation, I'm in four-point restraints in my boxer shorts on a gourney of the hospital where I once trained and currently still work. I'm [a Harvard Medical School] alum, HMS faculty. . . and I didn't even get into McLean's?
On the cruelty of his illness:
I was so quickly in tatters, what was the good of all that overachievement? It should have taken longer for my proud crust of wellness to be so utterly gone.
On art:
Without art you're stuck with yourself as you are and life as you think it is.
polkadots_pints's review
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
I expected this book to be more directly about his mental health journey. While there are definitely sections devoted to it, the majority of the book is more generally autobiographical, and much focuses on his journey to becoming a doctor. Mental illness is always an underlying theme (and fear for the author), as it is in life when you have a chronic mental illness, but it is about so much more of his life than I thought it would be. This isn't a negative thing - he's a great writer, his story is very engaging, and it's fun to get a sneak peak into the Vonnegut family from his perspective.
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcoholism, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Chronic illness, Medical content, Mental illness, Addiction, Alcohol, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, and Suicide
norspider's review against another edition
4.0
This memoir chronicles the life of its author, Dr. Mark Vonnegut as he struggles with bipolar disorder (before there was a name for it) and alcoholism.
You can tell Vonnegut, like his father Kurt, is a gifted storyteller. And he truly cares about the message he is trying to convey. So many wonderful stories and quotes are in these pages.
I connected with this book because of my own mental health journey, and history with alcohol. It offers inspiration.
It doesn't feel right to give a number ranking to someone's personal story. But I would recommend this to anyone who has struggled with mental health, addiction, or both.
You can tell Vonnegut, like his father Kurt, is a gifted storyteller. And he truly cares about the message he is trying to convey. So many wonderful stories and quotes are in these pages.
I connected with this book because of my own mental health journey, and history with alcohol. It offers inspiration.
It doesn't feel right to give a number ranking to someone's personal story. But I would recommend this to anyone who has struggled with mental health, addiction, or both.
kayla_can_read's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
I thoroughly enjoyed it. It felt not exactly like a diary but diary/interview/conversation adjacent. Where some pieces were left out and bits muddles but all collectively felt true and honest to the doctor. Some bits should’ve been removed others extended definitely, but it would no longer ring as clearly.
butlerebecca's review against another edition
funny
reflective
tense
medium-paced
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Car accident and Suicide
Minor: Death of parent
leigh_reidelberger's review
3.0
Reading this book is not unlike going to Goodwill- after wandering aimlessly around, you leave with a few treasures, happy you found them, but also a little disappointed at how much time you spent inside.
thatpatti's review
3.0
This book felt sort of disjointed for me, without enough of any one topic, but with enough interesting tidbits and insights that i zipped through it pretty quickly.
bkish's review
4.0
This is unlike most of what I read as it is not a current book. Mark Vonnegut MD Pediatrician wrote it in 2010. It was recommended by someone from where I work. I do have strong background in issues with mental illness and it is something about which I read rather often.
Mark Vonnegut is the son of the acclaimed writer Kurt and why that is important is with the issue of mental illness. It is rampant in Mark's family from his mother Jill Cox and his father.
This is the second writing of Mark the first at a young age was Eden Express. He can write and here he has taken to talking about his life and that includes his illness and breakdowns and recoveries. He is also talking about being a MD both before and after it got co opted by the insurance corporations.
Mark had at least two severe mental breakdowns the first in Br Columbia where at a very young age he set up a commune. After that he was on Thorazine which I know is practically debilitating (from when I worked at VA Hospital). In this book he doesnt talk about his move to vitamin therapy which is very very controversial esp when the patient is diagnosed as a schizophrenic.
That he went on to acceptance at Harvard Medical School and became MD is a tribute to him. Then at some time during his residency at Mass General Hospital he had another breakdown and was hospitalized. He is now married and they have two children. There is a severe complication which he begins to grasp his alcoholism. At some time Mark decides he is not schizophrenic that he is bipolar. At some time he begins to take Lithium for bipolar or manic depression.
It is much to his credit that he joined AA and has not done any alcoholic in decades. He also got separated from his first wife met another woman and he married and has a third child w Barbara.
This is a book that is not for everyone and for some of us it is really excellent reading of what he shares about his medical and psych views ...
Judy
Mark Vonnegut is the son of the acclaimed writer Kurt and why that is important is with the issue of mental illness. It is rampant in Mark's family from his mother Jill Cox and his father.
This is the second writing of Mark the first at a young age was Eden Express. He can write and here he has taken to talking about his life and that includes his illness and breakdowns and recoveries. He is also talking about being a MD both before and after it got co opted by the insurance corporations.
Mark had at least two severe mental breakdowns the first in Br Columbia where at a very young age he set up a commune. After that he was on Thorazine which I know is practically debilitating (from when I worked at VA Hospital). In this book he doesnt talk about his move to vitamin therapy which is very very controversial esp when the patient is diagnosed as a schizophrenic.
That he went on to acceptance at Harvard Medical School and became MD is a tribute to him. Then at some time during his residency at Mass General Hospital he had another breakdown and was hospitalized. He is now married and they have two children. There is a severe complication which he begins to grasp his alcoholism. At some time Mark decides he is not schizophrenic that he is bipolar. At some time he begins to take Lithium for bipolar or manic depression.
It is much to his credit that he joined AA and has not done any alcoholic in decades. He also got separated from his first wife met another woman and he married and has a third child w Barbara.
This is a book that is not for everyone and for some of us it is really excellent reading of what he shares about his medical and psych views ...
Judy