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A review by jcbelk02
Just Like Someone Without Mental Illness Only More So: A Memoir by Mark Vonnegut
4.0
This memoir written by Mark Vonnegut, son of author Kurt Vonnegut, teaches a great lesson about mental health and success. Vonnegut is a pediatrician, excelled in medical school, and has written multiple books. After learning of Vonnegut and family’s history with mental illness, I have hope that success is waiting for me. By recounting his life, Vonnegut opened my eyes to endless possibilities and definitions for me outside of the constraints of my mental illness. The raw retelling of some of the worst parts of his life allowed me to realize that things do get better, even if they get worse again afterwards. This book enforced my belief of the fluidity of progress.
This book is written in fragmented pieces of a story. Though many people disliked this aspect of the book, I felt that it added the effect of true mental illness throughout the discussion of Vonnegut’s mental breaks. The rapid changing of subject illustrated the process of how life can feel erratic and thoughts can race with no end.
“Just Like Someone Without Mental Illness, Only More So” includes great commentary on the medicinal industry and the greed of big pharma, and it provides evidence of greed being one of the greatest motivators in the medicinal industry now. This book also includes commentary on the stigma of mental illness, highlighting the avoidance of relying on those with mental illness in fear of instability or anything other than normalcy.
If you are one who is interested in conversations about mental illness, someone with mental illness yourself, or even someone interested in the life of Kurt Vonnegut’s son, this is definitely a book for you. Reading a story that made my life feel more reasonable and normal was extremely reassuring for me, and it felt good to finally be able to relate to a memoir I have read and see the successes of that person as well.
This book is written in fragmented pieces of a story. Though many people disliked this aspect of the book, I felt that it added the effect of true mental illness throughout the discussion of Vonnegut’s mental breaks. The rapid changing of subject illustrated the process of how life can feel erratic and thoughts can race with no end.
“Just Like Someone Without Mental Illness, Only More So” includes great commentary on the medicinal industry and the greed of big pharma, and it provides evidence of greed being one of the greatest motivators in the medicinal industry now. This book also includes commentary on the stigma of mental illness, highlighting the avoidance of relying on those with mental illness in fear of instability or anything other than normalcy.
If you are one who is interested in conversations about mental illness, someone with mental illness yourself, or even someone interested in the life of Kurt Vonnegut’s son, this is definitely a book for you. Reading a story that made my life feel more reasonable and normal was extremely reassuring for me, and it felt good to finally be able to relate to a memoir I have read and see the successes of that person as well.