Editorial Review

Concert pianists perform from memory, a brutal but inescapable convention of musical life. Of all the demons they face onstage, none is greater than the fear of a memory slip.Cutting's bitter, dignified memoir tells the story of a musical life nearly shipwrecked by childhood molestation at the hands of her minister father. Beginning with a terrifying slip that triggers the gradual breakdown of a successful concert career, the narrative moves through hospitalization, painfully recovered childhood memories, and finally, a struggle toward compassionate understanding and a truce with the past. Throughout, she weaves the powerful theme of music: as a bribe, an addiction, a joy, and an escape. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Humility Slips
As a victim of abuse, I found this book quite compelling. However, I have a problem with its underlying intentions.It is a moving account of a terrible kind of abuse, and the impact it has on a person's life. Unfortunately, the truth is that victims of abuse more often become abusers, and Ms. Cutting's story is not only a story of her victimization but concludes, by means of the very publicization of her father's behavior and betrays a despicable form of hypocrisy. The reader will learn of the public shaming tactics that the author's father used to humilate and shame her and shape a woman of little self-esteem. His manner of punishing and threatening her during her childhood, lest she attempt to speak up and do something about her abuse, ultimately shows that the maintenance of such a relationship of dominating power over the vulnerable, by means of exploiting a person's isolation, is a kind of preemptive revenge in order to put the his victim "back in her place."Unfortunately, the psychological impact of such treatment inevitably leads to a person learning those very same patterns, at a deep level that is really never resolved except by means constant self-consciousness and vigilance against perpetrating the same acts. By publishing this book WITHOUT ANONYMITY and thus publically shaming her father, Ms. Cutting perpetrates the same act.Ultimately, Ms. Cutting betrays her retaliatory vengeance, and embodies the very same psychological behavior her her father's abuse was the embodiment of.While in her book she seems to indicate that she had to come to peace privately, in fact she betrays her complete lack of of forgiveness, which is essential becoming a person of true humility before oneself.As human beings, we ae only forgiveable insofar as we can forgive.Such humility is our only protection against perpetrating abusive acts upon others. No doubt this abuse still plagues Ms. Cutting's life in other forms.Her book is a call to victims only to look at themselves as victims, and thus never to acknowledge their own propensities for the same behavior.

Serendipity
So very glad to have discovered this audiocassette in a discount
impressive
This memoir of an extraordinarily gifted pianist who found the courage to get help for the years in which she was sexually abused by her clergyman father stands out among similiar memoirs. That she not only found the courage to heal but to report her father to the church is a remarkable testimony to what good therapy, support, one's dedication to their craft, and personal determination to heal can do. The author's brothers were likewise abused, and wound up dealing with depression and mental illness. That the author's piano lessons first served as a bargain between her and her father, as a bribe for not telling about the abuse, makes her journey both as a professional musician, a writer, and a human being especially poignant. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Abuse - General    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Composers & Musicians - Classical Instrumentalists    5. Composers & Musicians - General    6. Psychology    7. Specific Groups - Special Needs   

Reviews (4)

More than a biography
As the other reviews here accurately explain, this slim volume encompasses much more than an insightful look at how his father's long-misdiagnosed mental illness affected the author and his family. That would be quite enough. Yet, while some scholarly writers have one idea and repeat it volume after volume, Hinshaw deftly delivers much more than the title suggests,weaving autobiography and biography, this country's rather checkered history of diagnosing and treating bi-polar disorder, the genetic and environmental factors of brain disorders, and much more.
A rare portrait of human development
Stephen Hinshaw demonstrated exceptional courage and scholarship in this passionately written portrayal of his father's struggle with bipolar disorder. Blending scientific perspectives with personal insights, Hinshaw provides a tour of his father's obstacles and triumphs. It is a compelling story about the far reaching implications of severe psychopathology yet it is firmly rooted in inspiring messages of hope and resilience. Hinshaw somehow manages to find the appropriate "voice" with personal accounts narrated within a larger context of science, philosophy, and public policy. It is exemplary in its passion, analysis, and vision for the future.

an excellent bipolar biography
This is an excellent book that anyone interested in bipolar disorder or mental illness in general should read.Hinshaw is an excellent writer and brings the details of his father's struggle with bipolar disorder richly to life.The effects of the disease on his father's entire existence are profound and complex- many details and nuances of the illness are described.The book is partly an indictment of the entire mental health field for not providing better care for his father.An interesting and complex read.Avery Z. Conner, author of "Fevers of the Mind". ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1919-1995    2. Biography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Depressed persons    5. Hinshaw, Virgil,    6. Manic-depressive illness    7. Manic-depressive persons    8. Mental Illness    9. Personal Memoirs    10. Psychology    11. Specific Groups - Special Needs    12. United States    13. Biography: general    14. Coping with illness    15. Psychology & Psychiatry / General   

Editorial Review

Having worn eyeglasses for most of his life, Henry Grunwald merely thought a new prescription was in order when he tried to pour himself some water one day and completely missed the glass. A visit to the eye doctor revealed much more: Grunwald was in the early stages of macular degeneration, an incurable condition that causes increasingly blurred vision and near blindness. His condition was first diagnosed in 1992; he can now discern only fuzzy shapes and colors, while reading has become the "visual equivalent of struggling for breath."To a man who has devoted his life to the written word, the inability to read and write on his own was particularly difficult to accept. With time and effort, however, acceptance did arrive, and Read more

Reviews (13)

Why not on CD?
This is not a review per se in that I have not read the book.However, I wanted to buy it on CD for my father-in-law, who is 89 years old and HAS macular degeneration.As a result, he is now unable to read at all.It is peculiar to me that this particular book is not available on CD since many in its target audience would likely be victims of the degenerative eye disease that is its topic.Are there plans to put it in an audio format?

CALLING ALL MACULAR DEGENERATES...
Written by a retired Editor-in-Chief of Time, Inc. publications, this slender tome gives the author's musings on macular degeneration, which is an incurable, age-related, gradual loss of vision that affects millions ofAmericans. It is a loss that the author himself experienced, though initially, having worn eyeglasses all his life,he simply thought that he needed a prescription for stronger lenses. Audiotape version
This book has so much to offer my alert and intelligent 90 year-old uncle, who is struggling to maintain his existential connection with life as macular generation cuts him off from the reading that has given him intellectual sustenance over so many years, that it is really depressing not to find an audiotape version available on Amazon.Read more

Subjects:  1. (Henry Anatole)    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Diseases And Disorders Of The Eye    7. Editors    8. General    9. Grunwald, Henry A    10. Older blind people    11. Patients    12. Retinal degeneration    13. Specific Groups - Special Needs    14. United States    15. Biography & Autobiography / General   

Reviews (9)

Pioneers Blazing New Trails!
In 1957 when Jessy Park was born (called "Elly" in this book, but later identified by her mother in the sequel "Exiting Nirvana"), very little was known about autism.Elly/Jessy presented behavior that Kanner described more than a decade earlier (1943) when he first coined the term "autism."
The BEST book a mother can read...
I have a 9 year old son with autism, and have aspergers myself, and I could not have written such an insightful book as did this mother.
One family's story of ASD set in historical context
If you are not the parent of a child who has been diagnosed with PDD or Autism, this book will provide a historical view of how one family dealt with a child with this diagnosis.Read more

Subjects:  1. Park, Jessy,    2. Autism    3. Mental health    4. Autistic children    5. United States    6. General    7. Special Education - General    8. Psychology    9. Biography / Autobiography    10. Parental Memoirs    11. Autism    12. Specific Groups - Special Needs    13. Diseases - Nervous System (incl. Brain)    14. Disability: social aspects    15. Park, Clara Claiborne    16. Park, Jessy    17. Psychology & Psychiatry / General   

Reviews (13)

Huge Disappointment
The title of this book should have been "The bad things doctors did to me while I was in the hospital."While going into explicit detail of her experience at several different treatment centers, she glosses over her recovery - the main thing her book is supposed to address.
A Testament to The Ultimate Human Fighting Spirit
This book is not just for current or past anorexic, but for everyone who has some serious setbacks in their lives. It is a true testament to the ultimate human fighting spirit.As far as anorexia is concerned, I find this book a real eye-opener to the many flaws of the mental health system where the doctors and nurses seem to be just as obessed with the patients gaining the weight, as the patients with losing it. I could not put this book down oce I started reading it. It left me wondering how Ms(?) Sargent is still alive today.It is even more amazing that not only she is leading a normal life, but she is only excelling in her career and her true passion of figure skating.It is a matter of time unil this gem is made into a movie.

Insightful and comprehensive look at anorexia
Sargent writes a passionate account of her battle with anorexia.She comes forth shining and gives others the hope that sustained her through her 'dark night of the soul'.She is truly an inspiration for anyone suffering with any eating disorder, compulsive eating included.A beautifully written and carefully detailed book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Anorexia nervosa    2. Biography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Case studies    5. Eating disorders    6. Patients    7. Psychology    8. Psychopathology - Eating Disorders    9. Sargent, Judy Tam    10. Specific Groups - Special Needs    11. Inspirational    12. Psychiatry    13. Self-help    14. Women's issues    15. Women's studies    16. biography/autobiography    17. diet/health/fitness   

Reviews (8)

An Unforgettable story
This is an absolutely unforgettable book because of Francisco's honesty and openess, as well as the clarity and beauty of her writing.I read this book a year ago, and have read many books since then, but the author's story of perserverance has stayed with me.

A masterpiece - a precious gift!
This was the 1st book I read on my road to recovery 35 years after having been a victim. It helped give me the courage, strength and hope to move forward toward on my own journey towards healing.

Compelling and Well-Written, Struck Me Right To The Core
As difficult as it was for me to read this book, due to it's similarity to my experience, I found it to be so extremely compelling--I couldn't put it down! Ms.Francisco has an incredible command of the English language andwas able to communicate in painful detail, her inner-most thoughts andfeelings, before, during and after the rape.As I read this book, I wentthrough and highlighted many many many passages that I felt pertaineddirectly to me.....so that my husband could read it and gain better insightinto what I was and still am thinking. This is a wonderful, amazing book,that both rape survivors and non-rape survivors can benefit from. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Abuse - General    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Self-Help    4. Specific Groups - Special Needs    5. Women    6. Biography & Autobiography / Women   

Reviews (11)

Not very inspired
After reading about half of this book, I had to stop.I am not very inspired.In fact, it had the opposite effect on me.A lot of the stories I read were too much about the hardships and not enough about the positive outcomes that people had.Kind of scared me a bit..is this what I have to look forward to as the years progress?I was more inspired by Montel's book (once I got past the ego part of it).

Unrecommended
I do not recommend this book.I purchased it under the assumption that it would include individual accounts of people dealing with MS.It does, but not in the manner that I presumed it would.The book does offer individual accounts of the struggle with MS, but the stories seem to be incomplete and unorganized.As someone living with MS, I wanted to know about the individual's diagnosis history, symptoms, treatment, etc.Many of the stories never mentioned specifics or they left out important events.The idea of what the individual's have been through does make the stories inspiring, but the lack of content and organization left me feeling frustrated and sad.

Ordinary People living courageous lives
What I liked so much about this book was that ordinary people were depicted in every chapter.And what is ordinary?Is there such a thing?When MS strikes, it isn't choosey.This book strives to take a sampling of the diverse groups that MS strikes and paints a picture.There is the enlisted military man, the single and struggling mother, the artist, the air traffic controller, the poet, the scientist, all of different sex, career, economic status and type of MS.I learned so much from each and every person's story and I applaud them for coming forward and sharing what they've learned.... ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Diseases - Musculoskeletal    4. Diseases - Nervous System (incl. Brain)    5. General    6. Health & Fitness    7. Health/Fitness    8. Inspirational - General    9. Motivational & Inspirational    10. Multiple sclerosis    11. Patients    12. Specific Groups - Special Needs    13. Health & Fitness / Diseases / Nervous System (incl. Brain)   

Reviews (10)

Sleepless Scrutiny
I found Sleep Demons, An Insomniac's memoir, to be an excellent and intriguing study of the history of sleep. From discoveries, to theories, to even the `average Joe's' thoughts and input. Bill Hayes gets a five across the board for an overall performance.

Sleepless Scrutiny
I found Sleep Demons, An Insomniac's memoir, to be an excellent and intriguing study of the history of sleep. From discoveries, to theories, to even the `average Joe's' thoughts and input. Bill Hayes gets a five across the board for an overall performance.

Sleepless Scrutiny
I found Sleep Demons, An Insomniac's memoir, to be an excellent and intriguing study of the history of sleep. From discoveries, to theories, to even the `average Joe's' thoughts and input. Bill Hayes gets a five across the board for an overall performance. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1961-    2. Biography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. General    6. Hayes, Bill,    7. Insomnia    8. Neurology - Sleep Disorders    9. Patients    10. Psychology    11. Sleep Disorders    12. Specific Groups - Special Needs    13. Biography & Autobiography    14. Biography & Autobiography / General    15. Sleep & dreams   

Editorial Review

One has good reason to be suspicious of a book that calls itself a "metaphorical memoir." If a metaphor substitutes one thing for another to which it's not ordinarily related, and a memoir relates the personal experiences of the author, then a metaphorical memoir would be... well, lying, if we're going to get technical about it. Or it could be Read more

Reviews (20)

Brilliant prose from a trickster of a narrator
Slater insists that her book be characterized as a non-fiction memoir, despite that fact that she freely admits that her account of her epilepsy is factual, symbolic, real, and fantastical all at once.Slater herself isn't always sure which of her memories are true and which are vivid but invented.If the reader can let themselves free in this alternate reality, Slater's memoir makes for fascinating, touching, and chilling reading.She truly brings the reader inside her own confusions about how much of her disease is real and how much fabricated.The short length of the book allows Slater's literary trickery to work well.
Well done, but not quite enough feeling
Lauren Slater's tribute to postmodernism in her "metaphorical memoir" is an interesting exploration of the role of fact in what is true. Where we may tend to regard the objective facts of a situation to be the truth of it, Ms. Slater takes a much more subjective view. She asserts her point, explicitly and in a masterful way woven seemlessly throughout the text, that there may be a more truthful way to relate a situation, a character, an anecdote, than to simply relate the facts.
Another triumph for Slater.
Lauren Slater, Lying (Random House, 2000)
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Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Epileptics    6. Health    7. Slater, Lauren    8. Social Scientists & Psychologists    9. Specific Groups - Special Needs    10. Truthfulness and falsehood    11. United States    12. Women    13. Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs   

Reviews (2)

A Rare Opportunity
After having read all of Marion Woodman's books and participating in two workshops at Esalen and one with Robert Bly in San Francisco, it was very exciting for me to be able to read this very intimate personal journal of her own spiritual and psychological process. In her lectures this wonderful woman is so open and honest and present and she is even more so in this book.It took my breath away to travel this moving difficult path with her.If you know Marion and love her this book is a must read.If you don't have any experience with her or Jungian theory I think it will be hard to follow since much of it assumes familiarity with her theories of the conscious feminine.She is a deep thinker with complex feelings.She models for us how to practice what she teaches.The book is also filled with her favorite poems and passages from the writers who inspired her teaching career before she went to Zurich to study Jung.There are also glimpses into her long and fruitful marriage to Ross and even a postscript from him to the reader.I am waiting for her book on the demon lover which she alludes to in this book. I love this book.There is much to savor and learn on many dimensions.

powerful and profound
marion woodman is unequaled in her ability to see life, in all it's complicated paradoxes, and articulate her journey through it... i find her latest book to be compelling as she shares her personal story with compassion and rigorous honesty... just knowing that she has walked her own path inspires me to continue to walk mine... if you've ever wondered if someone walks ahead of you then read 'bone' and know she is .... ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. Diseases - Cancer    3. Health & Fitness    4. Health/Fitness    5. Specific Groups - Special Needs    6. Spirituality - General    7. Women    8. Women's Health - General    9. Christian spirituality    10. Health & Fitness / Women's Health    11. Popular medicine    12. Women's health   

Editorial Review

As the title suggests, the author is graphically frank about the medical necessities of living with juvenile-onset diabetes, and squeamish readers may find her memoir harrowing. In its essence, however, this is a story of emotional growth and healing. Diagnosed at 9 by her older sister Denise, who is herself a diabetic, Andie Dominick spends her adolescence rebelling against her condition: "dieting" by skipping shots, undergoing a dangerous abortion at 17. When, at 21, Andie discovers 33-year-old Denise dead in the house they share, she begins to reexamine the reckless lifestyle that killed her sister and threatens her as well. The discovery three years later that she has diabetic retinopathy, which could lead to blindness, helps Dominick realize she cannot follow her sister's path: "Denise always told me having the disease didn't have to change my life. But now it has ... because I am finally facing who I am." Love and eventually marriage continue Dominick's process of self-knowledge and acceptance, though there is no facile happy ending. (She has a tubal ligation rather than risk passing diabetes to another generation.) Dominick's deliberately plain prose and gritty candor render her struggle accessible and real. Read more

Reviews (15)

mixed feelings
The book was good, no doubt.The writing was compelling, but as I sit back having just finished the book, I don't really understand how it made me feel.
Once beginning this book, I needed to keep reading!
I have a 12 yr. old child with diabetes and had been looking for information to do a research project on; diabetes seemed to be what I was heading toward when I accidently came across this book.Looking at someone's point of view who has dealt with type 1 diabetes for most of her life and how she handled her care, monitoring of blood sugars, medical personnel, emotions, and relationships has put a whole new look on how I should or shouldn't teach and help my own child with this disease. The author made me understand completely what she had dealt with and how, making living with diabetes more understandable.

A Good Read
In all, Needles was a good memoir of living life with Type 1 diabetes.If you're looking for a happy, positive story about living with a chronic condition, this probably isn't for you, but the other 99% of books on diabetes are usually full of advice (though not necessarily practical) on that subject.What this book does, however, is shows one person's real experience with living with diabetes, which isn't always as great as the medical professionals would have everyone believe.Andie Dominick is a good author and helps provide a perspective that is noticably absent from the field of publishing on diabetes. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Diabetes in children    6. Diseases - Diabetes    7. Dominick, Andie    8. General    9. Health    10. Patients    11. Specific Groups - Special Needs    12. United States    13. Women    14. Biography & Autobiography / General   

Reviews (5)

Interesting, but sometimes confusing.
Exiting Nirvana" is a mother's account of her autistic daughter, Jessy, and Jessy's life from her teens until the time the book was was published, when Jessy was in her early 40s. I found that the way the chapters of the book were presented was a little bit odd. Instead of starting with Jessy's teens and moving forward, showing her progress that way, the author divides the chapters into aspects of Jessy's behavior and life: i.e., the way Jessy talks and the ways she thinks. I found that some of the chapters seemed to be haphazardly written. Ideas didn't seem to flow easily from one paragraph to the next and were hard to follow. The author spent a lot of time discussing Jessy's obsession with numbers and this portion was especially confusing. I wasn't sure exactly what point the author was trying to get across...other than the fact that Jessy was obsessed with numbers and tended to look at the world that way. Later chapters, however, were quite well written, and I think the author had easier time discussing Jessy's life when Jessy herself was easier for the author to understand. Great to learn more about autism
Existing Nirvana: a daughter's life with autism, by Clara Claiborne Park, is a book about Jessy, the author's daughter, growing up with autism.Although it would seem to be hard growing up with autism, rather than focusing on the negative, Park shares the story of her daughter focusing on her differences from `normal' people in society and stressing the remarkable progress Jessy has made despite her abnormalities.This progress has allowed her to mentally and socially move more and more from her own world, `Nirvana', into the world in which everyone else operates.By giving an account of Jessy's life, the reader becomes more aware of the disability and its characteristics.The book focuses on they way individuals with autism think and even their speech.The speech portion of the story is more focused on Jessy specifically because her speech was worse than most individuals with autism.Park uses journals and pictures Jessy has drawn to looking deeper into her speech, thought process, portraits, and her current living.Through these different aspects, the reader becomes enlightened on the type of characteristics that define autism. A touching, loving memoir
Clara Claiborne Park describes her daughter Jessy, an autistic woman in her 40's and discusses how her daughter has changed in the years since she wrote The Siege: A Family's Journey into the World of an Autistic Child,which ended when Jessy was 8. The book is an eloquent argument for the education of autistic children, and a detailed glimpse into the family life of an autistic person. Park describes different aspects of their life in a matter-of-fact manner-- no whining or victimhood here. Her love of Jessy is obvious, and there is no complaining, but it becomes obvious through the descriptions of Jessy's behavior andpersonality that their life has been difficult. It's also obvious how well Jessy has been cared for and loved. It's refreshing to read this book because the Park family just seems so, so good, and that's unusual to come across these days.Parks is a great writer-- the book is intelligent and readable. I'd recommend this book for any family with an autistic child, and for anyone who is just interested in thinking about how love, personality, and intelligence relate ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. Creative Ability    3. Diseases - Nervous System (incl. Brain)    4. Parental Memoirs    5. Psychology    6. Specific Groups - Special Needs    7. Psychology & Psychiatry / Creative Ability   

Editorial Review

In the image-conscious world of 1970s Beverly Hills, 11-year-old Lori knows she's different. Instead of trading clothes and dreaming of teen idols like most of her pre-adolescent friends, Lori prefers reading books, writing in her journal and making up her own creative homework assignments. Chronically disapproving of her parents' shallow lifestyle, she challenges their authority and chafes under their constant demands to curb her frank opinions and act more "ladylike." Feeling as though she has lost control over her rapidly changing world, Lori focuses all her concentration on one subject: dieting. Her life narrows to a single goal--to be "...the thinnest eleven year old on the entire planet." But once she achieves her "stick figure," Lori really sees herself for the first time in a restaurant bathroom mirror and decides then and there to bring herself back from the brink of starvation.Read more

Reviews (134)

An Easy Read with Ups and Downs.
These are the diaries of an eleven year old girl. It must have taken huge amount of courage on Lori Gottlieb's part to publish these. I read it in one night, promising myself "One more chapter then sleep." But when the chapter ended I needed to know what happened next. I laughed at certained parts, and I teared up at others - she was quite the charming eleven year old.
stick figure
This is a great book by Lori Gottlieb. It always has you wanting to read on. It had me doing that, really a great non-fiction book. I know how hard it is to write about yourself, but she did it with such easy, which really caught my eye.

Good quick read about a girl who wanted to be thinner
This is the edited diary of 11 year old Lori Gottlieb, during the 1970s in Beverly Hills. Lori is obviously a very intelligent, and witty, child and is not interested being a typical girl, much to the displeasure of her parents. Lori then begins to diet, mainly starving herself. Lori successfully loses weight, too much by everyone else's standards. Lori didn't think so at first, but after catching a glimpse of herself in a mirror, she finally realizes that they are correct.
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Subjects:  1. Anorexia nervosa    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Eating Disorders - Anorexia Nervosa    7. General    8. Gottlieb, Lori    9. Health    10. Patients    11. Specific Groups - Special Needs    12. Women    13. Social Science / General   

Editorial Review

Any parent who has suspected something was off with their baby will empathize with the first chapters of Read more

Reviews (30)

The book changed our lives.
When we were frustrated with the lack of fun during theABA sessions, and my child had a very hard time with them, I read this book where Mrs. Stacey share her experience with a much more flexible model of therapy for her son, this model worked for my child and he started to learn.
This book gave us hope and helped us to deal with our emotional
This book gave us hope and helped us to deal with our emotional dificulties. When we first received the diagnosis we did not know anything about autism. When we had strict ABA my son only cried after reading this book we started seeking the floortime approach and also used VBA and my child started to learn having fun. Recovery is possible. It is a hard work and we are still working as hard as we can but we have seen the light coming. The book is like if Pat were my friend giving me support and hope whenever I need it.
Worst personal account of "autism" I've ever read
I bought this book because it had so many favorable reviews on this website.I've read approximately 25 books written by parents who have a child with ASD.This book is, by far, the worst I've read.I frequently found myself rolling my eyes while reading it.
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Subjects:  1. Autism    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Child Development And Rearing    4. Children with Special Needs    5. Family & Relationships    6. Family/Marriage    7. Mental Illness    8. Parental Memoirs    9. Personal Memoirs    10. Specific Groups - Special Needs    11. Child care & upbringing    12. Coping with disability   

Editorial Review

This first-person account of Alzheimer's ties several powerful storiestogether. Read more

Reviews (19)

A Courageous Work
How to describe "Losing My Mind." The author, Thomas DeBaggio wrote it as a person making the lonely journey into the opaque fog of dementia. What courage!Dementia is a disease that knows no boundaries. It is blind to the categories in which we usually place our fellow human beings. It can occur at the age of 55 or 85. It can happen to Blacks, Whites, Hispanics, Asians, Jews, Christians, Muslims, males and females, rich and poor. It has not spared ex-presidents.Dementia did not spare my mother whose tale is told in my own recently published memoir. I recommend "Losing My Mind" to anyone dealing with this terrible disease either by him or herself or in a loved one.
Pronounced negativism
I agree with a couple of the other reviewers in that it is hard to condemn this book since the author has an incurable disease. However, I find his endless harping on his mental condition and just how black everything is to take away from the other excellent material in the book - quotes from various other sources about the disease and its ramifications.
Terrifying Insight
This book recounts the downward decline of the mental state of an Alzheimer's sufferer.At the age of 57, DeBaggio was a successful businessman who ran a plant nursery out of his home.Some annoying problems recalling scientific details of his plants led him to ask his doctor if there might be something wrong with his brain.He consulted with a neurologist who subjected him to a battery of tests, which all pointed to early onset Alzheimer's.In this book, DeBaggio describes his diagnosis, treatment, and losses of mental acuity.One aspect of Alzheimer's is that memories from childhood return with new vividness, so interwoven in this story are the memoirs of DeBaggio's life, from the meeting of his parents to his birth, childhood, and earlier career as a journalist.Juxtaposed with these details are descriptions of his present mental state, his meetings with doctors and struggles with daily tasks, as well as lengthy informative quotations about Alzheimer's research.
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Subjects:  1. 1942-    2. Alzheimer's Disease    3. Biography    4. Biography & Autobiography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. DeBaggio, Thomas,    8. Diseases - Nervous System (incl. Brain)    9. Literary    10. Medical - General    11. Patients    12. Specific Groups - Special Needs    13. Biography & Autobiography / General    14. Coping with illness    15. DeBaggio, Thomas    16. Mental health   

Editorial Review

"In the country of the blind," the old adage asserts, "the one-eyed man is king." But in Stephen Kuusisto's superb new memoir, Read more

Reviews (18)

Very inspiring book EVEN inspires me to want to write
I was reccommended to read Planet of The Blind due to my interest in writing stories about people who had disabilities and about by own disablility for I'm visually impaired myself and I have an interest in writing. So I read Steven Kuusisto's book Planet of the Blind and found it very facinating and inspiring! I highly reccomend it! I'd love to know what is he doing now and is he still writing and speaking of the book?

Vivid and moving memoir
As a legally blind person, who had totally blind parents, this vividly written book went a long way in helping me come to terms with my own situation. Like Stephen, for years I was in denial about my own limited vision and tried, successfully for a time, to "pass" as fully sighted. This is no longer possible and I have to face my own limitations head on, as Stephen finally does. Powerful and redemptive
I read Stephen's book late into the night and then got up and read more in the morning. The book not only brought me new understanding of the world of blindness, it spoke intimately of the journey of self-acceptance. Stephen's story is threaded through with grace, and his language is musical. A deeply spiritual memoir; you will finish it changed. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Blind    4. Fiction    5. General    6. Kuusisto, Stephen    7. Literary    8. Specific Groups - Special Needs    9. United States    10. Biography & Autobiography / General