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susankurth326 's review for:
Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family
by Robert Kolker
This is a fascinating story if you have any interest at all in mental illness. It's the saga of a couple who had 12 children over 20 years even though they weren't very good parents: the father was mostly absent and the mother was extremely perfectionistic and came across as cold and detached. Of the 10 sons, six developed schizophrenia. One committed murder and another one attempted to kill his wife.
I'd give this 4 stars for the story, which is fascinating, but only 2 for the writing. The author met one of the sisters and I assume got a lot of his information from her, and yet the story is told in a very detached manner, almost glossing over some of the more interesting parts. For example, when the one son kills his girlfriend and himself, there's really no detail about how that affected the parents. I never felt as if I got any real insight into either parent or any of the children. In contrast, I would recommend "His Brother's Keeper" by Jonathan Weiner, which tells the story of a close-knit family in which one son develops ALS and another tries to find a cure. In that book, I felt as if I really KNEW the people, rather than just reading a detached rendition of events.
I'd give this 4 stars for the story, which is fascinating, but only 2 for the writing. The author met one of the sisters and I assume got a lot of his information from her, and yet the story is told in a very detached manner, almost glossing over some of the more interesting parts. For example, when the one son kills his girlfriend and himself, there's really no detail about how that affected the parents. I never felt as if I got any real insight into either parent or any of the children. In contrast, I would recommend "His Brother's Keeper" by Jonathan Weiner, which tells the story of a close-knit family in which one son develops ALS and another tries to find a cure. In that book, I felt as if I really KNEW the people, rather than just reading a detached rendition of events.