Overview

The son of Kurt Vonnegut offers a beautifully rendered account of the past thirty-five years of his life--from his acceptance to Harvard Medical School and subsequent brilliant career in pediatrics to the terrifying return of the voices that haunted him as a young man. More than thirty years after the publication of his acclaimed memoir The Eden Express, Mark Vonnegut continues his story in this searingly funny, iconoclastic account of coping with mental illness, finding his calling, and learning that willpower isn't nearly enough. Here is Mark's life childhood as the son of a struggling writer, as well as the world after Mark was released from a mental hospital. At the late age of twenty-eight and after nineteen rejections, he is finally accepted to Harvard Medical School, where he gains purpose, a life, and some control over his condition. There are the manic episodes, during which he felt burdened with saving the world, juxtaposed against the real-world responsibilities of running a pediatric practice. Ultimately a tribute to the small, daily, and positive parts of a life interrupted by bipolar disorder, Just Like Someone Without Mental Illness Only More So is a wise, unsentimental, and inspiring book that will resonate with generations of readers.

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9780385343800

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Mr. Vonnegut's book surpasses all expectations--his heartfelt effort to enlighten us about mental illness is a gift. I read in awe and recognition, to say nothing of how many times I laughed out loud. People with mental illness, their families, friends and caretakers in the world of psychiatry will learn so much and continue to be fascinated by this remarkable man. <br> --Patty Duke <p> Mark and I both started communes in 1971, and reading his new book I feel like a hippie brother. Sharing so vulnerably his woundedness and his family's and society's woundedness, he shows you can step out of it all, into a celebration of imperfection and a life of meaning. <br>--Patch Adams, M.D. <p> The man who wanted to bite R.D. Laing has grown into the doctor who helps us understand how compassionate healthcare has given way to mindless bureaucracy. As a psychiatric patient and a pediatrician, he lucidly conveys his experience of psychosis, as well as the maddening effects of today

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY San Francisco Chronicle * Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Vonnegut has written a searingly honest account of a particular kind of hell and managing to triumph despite everything-a true thing of value. -San Francisco Chronicle [Mark] Vonnegut shares with his late father a knack for throwing down sentences-many sentences-of such naked wit and intelligence they make a reader stop for an extra beat. -San Jose Mercury News [A] remarkable new memoir . . . many fascinating accounts of what it was like growing up with a still-struggling writer father. -The Boston Globe Mark Vonnegut tells a strange and funny story in a strong, tensile style-at their frequent best, his sentences are like shards of colored glass: beautiful, but liable to cause damage. -Palm Beach Post Mordantly witty, slightly subversive. -Publishers Weekly

<p>NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY<br> San Francisco Chronicle - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel <br> <br> Vonnegut has written a searingly honest account of a particular kind of hell and managing to triumph despite everything--a true thing of value. --San Francisco Chronicle <br><br> [Mark] Vonnegut shares with his late father a knack for throwing down sentences--many sentences--of such naked wit and intelligence they make a reader stop for an extra beat. --San Jose Mercury News <br><br> [A] remarkable new memoir . . . many fascinating accounts of what it was like growing up with a still-struggling writer father. --The Boston Globe <br> <br> Mark Vonnegut tells a strange and funny story in a strong, tensile style--at their frequent best, his sentences are like shards of colored glass: beautiful, but liable to cause damage. --Palm Beach Post <br> <br> Mordantly witty, slightly subversive. --Publishers Weekly

Author Information

Mark Vonnegut is the only son of the late Kurt Vonnegut and Jane Cox Vonnegut and the author of The Eden Express- A Memoir of Insanity, an ALA Notable Book. A full-time practicing pediatrician, he lives in Massachusetts with his wife and son.

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