An illuminating account that should be a vital tool in helping others, delivering both warning signs of mental illness and a...
In this debut memoir, a teacher recalls how she became blindsided by mental illness.
“When did it all go wrong? How did I become a statistic, and what is mental illness anyway?” When Roger began having panic attacks, these were her questions. After all, she was living her dream: teaching music in public school, running her own private studio, and raising a family. But she was no match for the cards stacked against her, including a genetic predisposition to mental illness, emotional scars from childhood bullying, and a turbulent marriage. In addition, she recalls: “Teaching in the school system is like a pressure cooker for the soul.” Soon her anxiety was joined by severe depression, OCD, a suicide attempt, a bipolar diagnosis, and episodes of self-mutilation. Finally, she began her recovery with a two-week stay in a mental hospital and gradually found the necessary tools to heal. Loving parents supported her; new medications began clearing her mind; and she prioritized self-care. Her hardships didn’t cease: She faced financial implosion and the dissolution of her marriage. But she continued to carry on, eventually even finding a way to replace her prescriptions with holistic healing. In this raw and enlightening memoir, Roger’s trepidation is evident when disclosing highly personal details yet she courageously holds nothing back. In a particularly heart-wrenching scene about cutting herself, she writes: “I would begin to sketch horrible names sadly Frank regularly called me….My thighs became a dictionary. I loathed myself, because my husband loathed me.” Her spot-on descriptions of her psychological state should be highly valuable for those seeking to make sense of mental illness, either their own or a loved one’s (“I have this ability to analyze a situation and find the absolute worst-case scenario and then let it ferment”). Also noteworthy is her process of self-acceptance, from considering herself a “psycho” to simply realizing that her mind, like any other organ, was subject to illness. Overall, her genuine, perceptive, and optimistic prose is a pleasure to read.
An illuminating account that should be a vital tool in helping others, delivering both warning signs of mental illness and a road map to recovery.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-1-5255-2290-1
Page Count: 144
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: Jan. 28, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s...
Music journalist and musician Wald (Talking 'Bout Your Mama: The Dozens, Snaps, and the Deep Roots of Rap, 2014, etc.) focuses on one evening in music history to explain the evolution of contemporary music, especially folk, blues, and rock.
The date of that evening is July 25, 1965, at the Newport Folk Festival, where there was an unbelievably unexpected occurrence: singer/songwriter Bob Dylan, already a living legend in his early 20s, overriding the acoustic music that made him famous in favor of electronically based music, causing reactions ranging from adoration to intense resentment among other musicians, DJs, and record buyers. Dylan has told his own stories (those stories vary because that’s Dylan’s character), and plenty of other music journalists have explored the Dylan phenomenon. What sets Wald's book apart is his laser focus on that one date. The detailed recounting of what did and did not occur on stage and in the audience that night contains contradictory evidence sorted skillfully by the author. He offers a wealth of context; in fact, his account of Dylan's stage appearance does not arrive until 250 pages in. The author cites dozens of sources, well-known and otherwise, but the key storylines, other than Dylan, involve acoustic folk music guru Pete Seeger and the rich history of the Newport festival, a history that had created expectations smashed by Dylan. Furthermore, the appearances on the pages by other musicians—e.g., Joan Baez, the Weaver, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Dave Van Ronk, and Gordon Lightfoot—give the book enough of an expansive feel. Wald's personal knowledge seems encyclopedic, and his endnotes show how he ranged far beyond personal knowledge to produce the book.
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s personal feelings about Dylan's music or persona.Pub Date: July 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-236668-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Dey Street/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015
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BOOK TO SCREEN
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Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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