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beckyboo326's review
4.0
Anyone who has struggled with depression, bipolar disease or schizophrenia (first or second hand) will be able to fully appreciate this book. Vonnegut doesn't give any real explanations for what everything means and sometimes the "crazy" is the one writing. Some of the memoirs are just sweet little bits and pieces of his memory of Kurt, and others are profound and had me writing down quotes.
I found myself wanting to share several parts of this book with several people. I would strongly recommend it to anyone who has ever had experience with mental illnesses, substance abuse or suicide. To everyone else, it's an excellent "in" to the mind of a brilliant, but damaged person.
I found myself wanting to share several parts of this book with several people. I would strongly recommend it to anyone who has ever had experience with mental illnesses, substance abuse or suicide. To everyone else, it's an excellent "in" to the mind of a brilliant, but damaged person.
imalwayswrite's review
2.0
I read an excerpt of this and loved it, and decided this was a must-read. Well…it was disappointing. Don’t get me wrong, Vonnegut’s a good writer; but I couldn’t figure out what this book was about. Being mentally ill and growing up in a family with a history of mental illness? Being mentally ill and overcoming the odds to reach the top of your field – in medicine, no less? Dual diagnosis? What? Some of the anecdotes didn’t have a point. I’m thinking specifically of the baby (Vonnegut is a pediatrician) who didn’t really need to be seen after all. Some of the others seem to be inside jokes, and the reader is definitely left out.
jacob_longini's review against another edition
4.0
Summary (SPOILERS): Mark Vonnegut M.D., son of esteemed author Kurt Vonnegut Jr., writes of his childhood in an unconventional home and family, his struggles with mental illness including 4 psychotic breaks, and his journey from Harvard Medical School to becoming a partner in a pediatric firm. He tells the narrative of his life all the while providing well-informed and contemplated insights on mental illness and the state of medical care in our country.
Thoughts: The no-bullshit manner of writing and wittiness of the remarks made on some fairly large and bleak issues made it a delightfully engaging read.
Thoughts: The no-bullshit manner of writing and wittiness of the remarks made on some fairly large and bleak issues made it a delightfully engaging read.
bonylegged's review
4.0
Just Like Someone Without Mental Illness Only More So is certainly not a perfect book. The premise is different from what is actually delivered and the writing style is jumpy. However, I liked all that. I felt like the jumpy writing style was either an intentional choice, echoing the thought process in psychotic and manic episodes, or something that was a result of those episodes and had just become second nature to Vonnegut (I am probably wrong). Either way, it felt like a great way to gain insight into such a thought process (and was a very familiar one for me as I have ADHD).
I felt like JLSWMIOMS wasn't as much about his mental illness as I expected. There was of course a great deal devoted to it, all well written, but the medical career he embarked on seemed to shine. That's where he really grabbed me. I am not the biggest fan of doctors especially due to the way capitalism and medicine hold hands nowadays but Vonnegut seems like a very aware and empathetic man.
He wasn't a doctor because he wanted to be great or notable or make money.. He was an astute guy who dealt with kids who had nothing wrong with them most of time and had suffered the embarrassment of being institutionalized in his own workplace. I liked that.
I grew up with a nurse for a mother and so all the observations about over worried parents or under worried parents and all the unnecessary tests were quite familiar.
His observations on medicine are what grabbed me and really held me on through this book. It was a humble and simple ride that offered much in only 200 pages. 3.5/5 stars.
I felt like JLSWMIOMS wasn't as much about his mental illness as I expected. There was of course a great deal devoted to it, all well written, but the medical career he embarked on seemed to shine. That's where he really grabbed me. I am not the biggest fan of doctors especially due to the way capitalism and medicine hold hands nowadays but Vonnegut seems like a very aware and empathetic man.
He wasn't a doctor because he wanted to be great or notable or make money.. He was an astute guy who dealt with kids who had nothing wrong with them most of time and had suffered the embarrassment of being institutionalized in his own workplace. I liked that.
I grew up with a nurse for a mother and so all the observations about over worried parents or under worried parents and all the unnecessary tests were quite familiar.
His observations on medicine are what grabbed me and really held me on through this book. It was a humble and simple ride that offered much in only 200 pages. 3.5/5 stars.
lajacquerie's review
4.0
To be honest, I'm not really a fan of Kurt Vonnegut--and I didn't even know he had a son. Thankfully, Mark is just as quietly clever and humorous as his father, without even resorting to fiction.
Yes, I grabbed this book because having someone in your life with mental illness makes you more interested in learning about it--but let's be serious, I would still love a book about crazy people anyway (side mind tangent while I tried to apply that analogy to other illnesses--would I still think a book about gangrene would be interesting even if I didn't know someone who had it? Yes, probably, as long as it didn't have pictures). The best part about Mark's writing style is that he doesn't try to explain; there's no excuses, no rationalizing, no picking apart the medical underpinnings. And, no apologies. He describes the mental breaks that ended with him being hospitalized with regret and clearly wants to return to his life, his family--but he also accepts that there's some part of him that really does believe he talked with van Gogh, Mark Twain, and Abraham Lincoln... and he's glad that they had the chance to become friends.
He also gives some straight-forward thoughts on the medical establishment today, what it was like serving on the Harvard Med School applicant review board, and tells about his charity medical trip to Haiti. Coming from a doctor whose main goal is to actually help people, these thoughts are refreshing and honest without necessarily being uplifting.
In fact, much of the book is like that--he's truthful about his illness (bipolar disorder according to the jacket, diagnosed differently earlier in his life) and is very frank about the effects it can have. But he kept on living, and then he wrote about it... which means that anyone else can too.
He ends with a mini chapter about how in his old age he's gotten into hunting mushrooms, but then almost kills himself by eating a poisonous one. How can you beat that?
Yes, I grabbed this book because having someone in your life with mental illness makes you more interested in learning about it--but let's be serious, I would still love a book about crazy people anyway (side mind tangent while I tried to apply that analogy to other illnesses--would I still think a book about gangrene would be interesting even if I didn't know someone who had it? Yes, probably, as long as it didn't have pictures). The best part about Mark's writing style is that he doesn't try to explain; there's no excuses, no rationalizing, no picking apart the medical underpinnings. And, no apologies. He describes the mental breaks that ended with him being hospitalized with regret and clearly wants to return to his life, his family--but he also accepts that there's some part of him that really does believe he talked with van Gogh, Mark Twain, and Abraham Lincoln... and he's glad that they had the chance to become friends.
He also gives some straight-forward thoughts on the medical establishment today, what it was like serving on the Harvard Med School applicant review board, and tells about his charity medical trip to Haiti. Coming from a doctor whose main goal is to actually help people, these thoughts are refreshing and honest without necessarily being uplifting.
In fact, much of the book is like that--he's truthful about his illness (bipolar disorder according to the jacket, diagnosed differently earlier in his life) and is very frank about the effects it can have. But he kept on living, and then he wrote about it... which means that anyone else can too.
He ends with a mini chapter about how in his old age he's gotten into hunting mushrooms, but then almost kills himself by eating a poisonous one. How can you beat that?
jaymesnoyce's review
4.0
A lovely book about life within the storm of mental illness that seemingly isn't about the processes of illness themselves. There's a stillness, a delicacy of language, that makes this memoir hauntingly intimate and delicious to read.
kgesker's review
4.0
3.5 A rather amazing story of a man's will to overcome his illness and become a doctor. Insight into psychotic breaks. However he lays out a long family history of mental illness and a disturbing childhood with little reflection. His blatant rejection of insight in this area make his other epiphanies seem shallow.. As a result the book feels unresolved and frankly a bit annoying.
mcsquared's review
3.0
OK, random nuggets about experience of being mentally ill and being a doctor.
jmaybury's review
3.0
I didn't really get anything out of this book - I felt like I was being held at arm's length. The whole book has a flat, opaque feel to it. Sorry, Mark Vonnegut!
grendelsdj's review
3.0
this is a nice little book about a doctor's experience of bipolar disorder/schizphrenia. it stands on it's own as good piece of writing.
but...(i am sorry mark vonnegut, i know this sucks man) it was impossible for me to read this without being in "reading kurt vonnegut" mode. it's no surprise that the unique trick of words and paragraph like installments are present and used in exactly the same way. the poignancy is just as poignant and poetry is just as beautiful in it's practicality. there is less artistry and more description of a life, but here and there...
also, i had not read eden express before reading this. it is hard to think of kurt vonnegut as a good day/bad day person. it's hard to think of him as someone's father. it's even more jarring to think of him as someone's father who is difficult and hard and not what he wants to be. it's a good lesson, i'm glad i read it.
but...(i am sorry mark vonnegut, i know this sucks man) it was impossible for me to read this without being in "reading kurt vonnegut" mode. it's no surprise that the unique trick of words and paragraph like installments are present and used in exactly the same way. the poignancy is just as poignant and poetry is just as beautiful in it's practicality. there is less artistry and more description of a life, but here and there...
also, i had not read eden express before reading this. it is hard to think of kurt vonnegut as a good day/bad day person. it's hard to think of him as someone's father. it's even more jarring to think of him as someone's father who is difficult and hard and not what he wants to be. it's a good lesson, i'm glad i read it.