Hurry Down Sunshine by Michael Greenberg

My most recent read is a true story about a father's experience as his daughter spirals down into insanity.  As I've said before I'm a bit of a sucker for books - true stories - about mental illness.  It must have to do with the fact that I'm a special ed teacher and have students past and present (and future) who suffer from mental illnesses and the more you know...la la la.  Well, this one was a doozy!  I don't know how I'd do as a parent or loved one of someone who literally cracks in the space of a day but I don't think I'd manage well.  Michael Greenberg did, however, considering.

Anyway - Hurry Down Sunshine tells the story of Michael Greenberg's daughter, Sally, who at the age of 15 suddenly begins a journey into the mentally ill world of bipolar.  The book begins with Sally have visionary hallucinations on the streets of Greenwich Village and takes us then into a psychiatric ward in Manhattan.  Sally believes she has figured out the brilliance that is in us all but that we lose as we grow into adults.  She becomes obsessed with preaching to all, her message.  The book thus chronicles this journey and the effect it has on all of Sally's loved ones (mother - a little crazy herself, father, stepmother and brother).  Greenberg, in writing this, doesn't portray himself as the perfect father nor someone who was prepared to face such a challenge.  In fact, he makes many mistakes and isn't afraid to admit to them.  His honesty in this, though at times makes the reader HATE him, also shows that dealing with such a situation as the mental breakdown of a loved one, leaves a person reeling and confused as to what direction to take.    

I really liked this book - as much as someone can like a book that deals with such a subject and would certainly recommend.

Annie's Ghost by Steve Luxenberg

For some reason, I've been into memoirs and nonfiction lately.  That's what this latest is. 

Steve Luxenberg's mother, Beth died in 2002.  A few years before her death (1999), she had a bit of a mental breakdown and was "forced" into an institution to regulate meds.  While there, she let slip (after a lifetime of claiming to be an only child) that she had a sister.  In the years following his mother's death, Steve Luxenberg searches for the answers of who his aunt was and why his mother consciously chose to keep her hidden.  What follows is the story of Annie who, at age 21, was committed to Eloise Hospital, southeastern Michigan’s sprawling psychiatric facility.  She spent her life there, approximately 40 years, until she was moved into a nursing home facility where she died completely alone.  "Annie's Ghost" centers around answering the questions of why did Beth, two years Annie’s senior, refuse for so long to acknowledge her sibling’s existence?

Really this was an intriguing book.  It read like a novel and was fascinating and rich in state institution stories.  Amazing that these places existed but more amazing still that our system today is still so flawed.  Quite interesting but not a "light" read.

A Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas

My latest is a memoir...another memoir.  I don't know why I don't read more memoirs because I almost always find them fascinating.  Anyway, this one caught my eye because of the dog on the cover.  And then I read the jacket which said:

"When Abigail Thomas's husband, Rich, was hit by a car, his skull was shattered, his brain, severely damaged.  Subject to rages, terrors and hallucinations, he was sent to live in a nursing facility that specializes in treating traumatic brain injuries.  He had no memory of what he did the hour, the day, the year before.  This tragedy is the ground on which Abigail had to build a new life.  How she built that life is a story of great courage and change, of moving to a small country town, of a new family composed of three dogs, knitting and friendship, of facing down guilt and discovering gratitude."

Sounds depressing, right?  Well, parts of it were but the overall message, the overall lesson that Abigail learns when her world is turned upside-down and inside-out is inspiring.  This is a woman who had before thought of in terms of future.  After the accident, however, the future went out the door and her thoughts are stuck in the present.  But truly, the word, "stuck" isn't right because that sounds like she's in a bad place; in a place she isn't happy.  Quite the contrary.  Abigail has learned to be happy again and loves her life, even when it isn't anything like she'd imagined or hoped.  This book was a great lesson on how to overcome those events that some may call a tragedy but others just call life.  You'll read this in a single sitting.

Oh and I also loved the opening quote from Wikipedia that said, "Australian Aborigines slept with their dogs for warmth on cold nights, the coldest being a "three dog night".

Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe

I've never considered myself a "Fan" of Rob Lowe's.  Sure, I've liked his work...I've seen About Last Night, St. Elmo's Fire (too many times I'm sure than is normal), West Wing...but I've never gone out of my way to see all that he does.  He's cute.  I admit, I may have fanticized a time or two when I was a teen but, again, he wasn't on my list anytime recently.  That being said, after reading his memoir, I may have to change my mind. 

Obviously, unless you live under a rock you know that Rob Lowe was a teen idol who got his start really at  fifteen when he starred in The Outsiders.  He then became an icon and unwilling "founder" of the Brat Pack. Eventually, he became one of Hollywood's top stars.  In his book he details for the reader his rise to the top, his family dynamics (fascinating that again, an acclaimed actor is the product of divorce) his failures due to alcoholism and his eventual ability to attain peace and thus an idyllic life with his wife and two sons.

I was surprised at what a good writer Rob Lowe is.  I was flabberghasted at the people he just happened to grow up and become friends with.  I would recommend this book to anyone and considering I wasn't a "fan", it's definitely a book for everyone.  The only negative point in this book which almost lost Mr. Lowe a 1/2 star was the fact that he's a Pittsburgh Steeler fan.  He should be ashamed being a Reds fan AND a Steelers fan!  That is BLASPHEMY!!!

Happens Every Day by Isabel Gillies

I read this book several months ago and totally forgot to review it!  Which sucks too because it was such a good book. 

Isabel Gillies was an actress (promising or not, who knows?) on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.  She met and married the love of her life and eventually quit her acting job to follow her husband to Oberlin College where he was to be a poetry professor.  Not one time did she regret her move and decision and she did in fact embrace everything mid-western including the snowy winters.  She threw herself into raising her two sons, renovating her dream home and teaching drama part-time.  Her life, however, was on a fast track to disaster when her husband decided he didn't love her nor want to be married anymore.  (Men don't leave because they're unhappy, by the way, the leave for another or the thought of another...this proved true with her scoundrel husband!).

Gillies could have written a book slamming her husband and blaming him for the "dreams" she gave up but instead (through, I'm sure, miles of hindsight) she brought humor, some sorrow and a lot of realization and acceptance to her memoir. Interestingly, though she never seemed angry, I wanted to hunt her ex down and throttle him.  Scream at him.  And smack "the other woman" until a tooth or two fell out.  Her book definitely made a sure point that men can indeed be dirty dogs but at the same time, she doesn't blame him totally for the total failure of their marriage.  A really, really good read that I'd recommend to anyone - married, not, or in the midst of not being married. 

A Girl Named Zippy: Growing Up Small in Mooreland Indiana by Haven Kimmel

The above book is actually a memoir. Usually when a book makes my "book list" (the list I keep in my wallet of books that seem interesting) it's because I've read a review that has struck my fancy. This book - published in 2002(?) - was/is #3 on the Today's show Book Club. It sounded so intriguing and hilarious that I had to have it even though I don't usually go for memoirs. I'm glad I did.

Zippy is a memoir about the author, born in 1965. She writes of her childhood (mainly the first 9ish years), the town in which she grew up, the quirky people living there and her mother, father and older brother and sister. In a typical Midwest town of about 300, where everyone knew everyone else, Kimmel has written a series of snippets that made the town unique and the people unusual. The things she writes about are so small and really "small-town" but the way she writes them make them seem like huge milestones or life-changing events. Some examples are the reflections of her many neighbors and friends, the dogs she had growing up, the 2nd bicycle she ever had, built by her father, and the event most memorable: The piano she requested from Santa for Christmas (a holiday that, being rather poor, her family celebrated modestly). I laughed out loud on several occasions. For instance, Kimmel describes what heaven must be like: A place where you have available to you a scratch-and-sniff sort of memory tracker where you can revisit your past through its smells. For instance, her father's truck which smelled of truck, Old Spice and leaded gasoline. She then goes on to say that the smell of leaded gasoline is a smell that if she could, she would inhale until retarded. What special ed teacher wouldn't think that funny? Anyway, I HIGHLY recommend this book. It's an amazingly fast read and there's a follow up book as well (She Got Up Off the Couch). Read Zippy! You'll love it!!!

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

So, now I'm on to a really uplifting book: The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion. This is the true story of how in December 2003, the author coped after her husband died suddenly and before her eyes from a coronary while her daughter, Quintana, was hospitalized and in a medically induced coma as a result of pneumonia and septic shock. Quintana eventually recovered after 4 weeks only to collapse two months later where she underwent brain surgery to relieve a massive hematoma. The novel was also made into a one-woman Broadway play which is currently running in New York, starring Vanessa Redgrave. Though it isn't going to be a "feel-good" book, I'm sure it will make me glad that I have what I have and remind me that life can change on a dime and you are never prepared. (Tragically, right before this book was published in August 2006, Quintana died).

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. This is actually a memoir about the Walls family - specifically the children who are forced to raise themselves because their father, though brilliant is a drunk and their free-spirited mother doesn't want to be bothered with the baggage and responsibility of raising children. Sounds incredibly uplifting huh? It always amazes and inspires me when people who have been dealt a shitty hand actually rise above all the crap and make something of their lives. Too often we hear about people who have been dealt a crappy hand and then use that to excuse every crappy action that they have then done in return.

I give The Glass Castle 4.5 out of 5 stars. A good, solid book. The author is great at giving detail and making the reader laugh with the anecdotes that were her life growing up nearly homeless and sometimes nearly starving. Like the time a river rat got into the shack because it was attracted to the huge hole that was filled with garbage and nearly had her little sister as a midnight snack. Or the fact that because of a leak in the ceiling, her brother had to sleep with an inflatable raft draped over him. A raft, mind you. that his mother got by sending in empty packages of Benson and Hedges cigarette which she dug through the garbage for. I'm just glad I didn't have parents like those growing up because I most likely would have been an orphan.