No comments about Discovering the Center: A Surgeon's Spiritual Journey.

No comments about The Plato of Praed Street: The Life And Times of Almroth Wright.

5 comments about Imagining Robert: My Brother, Madness and Survival : A Memoir.

1. I learned alot about the life of someone with a non-trivial emothional problem(s) and how society (and families) treats them. I also experienced an absorbing personal story that made it hard for me to put the book down. Well written, highly absorbing, educational, and highly recommeneded.



2. I absolutely loved this book. Reviewers here have complained that it's not just about Robert, but about the author and his life. I loved that fact. I too have a brother w/ a mental illness, and I too am a teacher and I like to write. I found all of these stories -- the story of Robert, Jay's connection to him, Jay's struggle to tell Robert's story, and Jay's life as a father -- all equally compelling. I finished the book in 2 days and sent an effusive email to the author, who sent me a kind email back that very same day. This book moved me deeply, made me think and want to write.



3. This book was terrible, it was an expolitation of his brother, and a shameless way to promote his other books. No matter the situation, the author found a way to make a reference to another book he had wrote. It was poorly written, and jumps around quite a bit. Don't waste your time or money on this book, or any book of this author's.



4. As someone who has made a career of helping the mentally ill, This book broke my heart. Yet I believed the problems existed as stated.

   As the parent of a child who, as a teen, developed the need for the safety of psychiatric hospitals, I cried for Jay and his family.

   As someone who became clinically depressed after my child's serious suicide attempt, I easily understood the need for what sometimes seemed like unrealistic optimism.

   This book offers something for anyone involved with people who are mentally ill. Read it. Keep it. Learn from it.




5. First, the good things: it must have taken courage to write the book, because of the possibility of betraying the privacy of the family. At the same time, the writing process must have been immensely satisfying. I imagine Jay finishing it, sitting back, smiling, and saying "If God takes me tomorrow, that's ok; the story has been told." In fact, Jay came to visit my college English class, and he told us that's exactly what he was thinking. I know how difficult it is to tell a true story about oneself in such remarkable detail, which is why the book earns three stars. But based on its execution, I'd rather only give it two. Here's why...

   Is this book really about Robert? How many times does Jay congratulate himself on rising above a background that was out to get him? He went to Columbia, you know. And did he mention he's a writer? He throws that in so many times, you just KNOW he views being a writer as the noblest and most enviable profession in the world. The phrase "my accomplishments" crops up an awful lot, especially in a book supposedly dedicated to a mentally ill brother. Also, did Jay mention he's a writer?

   And yes, the sentence structure was maddening (pun intended). A sentence can go on for an entire page, sometimes to such ridiculous lengths that I'd walk down the hall and read it aloud to my friends, just to show them with what I was dealing. I understand this problem a bit, though. I imagine Jay sitting at his desk with so much to say, afraid that if he doesn't put as much down as possible, as soon as it comes into his head, he'll lose it. So he erects a quick parenthetical fence and sends it down.

   Basically, when I'd finished reading the book for my English class, I wished that Robert could come to visit instead of Jay. Much as Jay tries to overshadow him, Robert is the star of this book and a truly fascinating character. I realize that I only know about Robert through Jay's writing, so I respect Jay for that. But the book irritated me to no end. I guess I'm just not sensitive enough.

No comments about I Know You Really Love Me: A Psychiatrist's Journal of Erotomania, Stalking, & Obsessive Love.

1 comments about Early Black American Leaders in Nursing: Architects for Integration and Equality (National League for Nursing Series).

1. This book was definately a good reading book, it was very informative. I used it for a paper in my class, in which I recieved an "A".

No comments about Names We Remember: 56 Eponymous Medical Biographies (International Series, V. 1).

2 comments about Saint or Satan? The life and times of Russia's new Rasputin Anatoly Kashpirovsky (Authentic Voices Series).

1. Saint, Satan, or the desire for magic and magical cures. The figure of the charismatic turns up again and again in history. But the marriage of the charismatic and 20th-21st century media is something quite new. Vinogradova has opened a door to an understanding of the hope and despair of those in the Communist Bloc who sought an age-old 'believer' remedy when all else had failed. Kashpirovsky's huge following is worth our attention. Vinogradova has tapped a vein of great interest in the West and let's hope to hear more from her gifted pen whether as research or fiction



2. I found this well-written account of the remarkable Kashpirovsky absolutely fascinating. The author researched her subject well and presented an unbiased account of Kashpirovsky's often controversial activities. A must read for all persons of present day Russian affairs.

No comments about A Physician's Eye (Mellen Lives, V. 6).

No comments about Trikojus: A Scientist for Interesting Times.

No comments about The Pain Chronicles: Recollections of a Chronic Pain Sufferer.