Scan barcode
simplymeg's review
4.0
I stopped short of saying that this book was "amazing" — but it was touching and funny and inspiring. This guy's family history and personal history would be completely unbelievable if I didn't know it was all true. Mark Vonnegut seems to be cursed with the thinking problem. My own daughter asked me one day (she was probably 14 or 15 at the time), "What's it like for people who don't think all the time?" And the only answer I had for her was, "How the hell would I know??" It sounds to me like Vonnegut's issue is so severe that his brain actually overheats. He has been through some incredible stuff and come out the other side if not unscathed then at least intact. And he has certainly retained his sense of humor. The book rambles a bit, but it kept my attention no matter what direction he headed off in.
zamyatins_fears's review
1.0
Mark Vonnegut’s literary voice sounds much like that of his father, Kurt Vonnegut. He clearly inherited some of the same sense of humor and picked up some of his father’s particular vernacular, while having a style all his own. I picked up this book after it was mentioned in the biography And So It Goes: Kurt Vonnegut: A Life by Charles Shields. I wanted to learn more about Mark, as he seemed to be a free spirited adventurer with his own dark sides to battle.
However, I was unable to finish the book, which is a rarity for me. I usually find that I can learn something from even the dullest of books, and Mark certainly isn’t a dull person. I did try - he had some wonderful insights sprinkled throughout, but I just couldn’t get through.
It starts out funny and a little sad, a series of random anecdotes about his life. He touches on being in a hippie commune in Canada; his various institutionalizations; becoming a doctor; the horrible parts of the medical industry; a little bit about his family and much more. However, he lightly touches on each subject, often coming back to the same few subjects randomly - there seems to be little organization to the book. A more casual style is expected in the memoir genre - but this was simply too disjointed to enjoy.
I found myself in a cycle of avoiding the book, eventually picking it up and reading a few pages and within a few minutes I was off doing something else again. This book really just couldn’t engage me.
I think Mark is the type of man I’d love to sit down over coffee with and just let him talk. He seems to have a lot he wants to say and I think his experiences would be worth listening to, but this is simply not the proper channel for his ideas, in my opinion.
However, I was unable to finish the book, which is a rarity for me. I usually find that I can learn something from even the dullest of books, and Mark certainly isn’t a dull person. I did try - he had some wonderful insights sprinkled throughout, but I just couldn’t get through.
It starts out funny and a little sad, a series of random anecdotes about his life. He touches on being in a hippie commune in Canada; his various institutionalizations; becoming a doctor; the horrible parts of the medical industry; a little bit about his family and much more. However, he lightly touches on each subject, often coming back to the same few subjects randomly - there seems to be little organization to the book. A more casual style is expected in the memoir genre - but this was simply too disjointed to enjoy.
I found myself in a cycle of avoiding the book, eventually picking it up and reading a few pages and within a few minutes I was off doing something else again. This book really just couldn’t engage me.
I think Mark is the type of man I’d love to sit down over coffee with and just let him talk. He seems to have a lot he wants to say and I think his experiences would be worth listening to, but this is simply not the proper channel for his ideas, in my opinion.
malloryballory's review
4.0
Really enjoyed this one - the author writes about his experiences with psychotic breaks early in his career, what it was like being Kurt Vonnegut's son, and the American medical system (he's a pediatrician). The writing was fun and Vonnegut-y without being surreal.
ashlaric's review
3.0
I enjoy Mark's writing style. Eden Express was better by far, but this was an enjoyable read.
kristendom's review
4.0
This book by the son of Kurt Vonnegut was intriguing and informative at the same time. It was probably about 2/3 about his experience with bipolar disorder and 1/3 about his complaints about the healthcare industry, so maybe the title was just a little misleading. But the firsthand accounts of his descent into episodes of bipolar disorder and subsequent hospitalizations, and his recovery to become a pediatrician were compelling and gave me a glimpse into what it feels like experiencing that illness. It's also an important book for showing that those of us with mental illness can still do things like write, graduate from Harvard medical school, and be successful professionals. Definitely worth reading.
ntrlycrly's review
4.0
"If recovery from mental illness depended on the goodness, mercy, and rational behavior of others, we'd all be screwed."
Interesting first hand insight into what it's like to hold it together when you're on the verge of a psychotic break.
Interesting first hand insight into what it's like to hold it together when you're on the verge of a psychotic break.
bosoxamy's review
3.0
I kept hoping this book would develop a rhythm, but it never did. It felt disjointed and sometimes I just had no idea what Vonnegut was talking about. Is this supposed to be representative of his mind and mental illness? Maybe so. It didn't meet my expectations, though.