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jhbandcats 's review for:
Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family
by Robert Kolker
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
I was not prepared for the visceral reaction I had to this extraordinary book about an extraordinary family. I felt claustrophobic from beginning to end - I can’t imagine what it would’ve been like to grow up in that family.
The author writes to the layman, presenting complex information on schizophrenia and mental illness in a clear way. Not only does he go into great depth in describing the Galvins and their experiences, but he interviews researchers as well, elucidating the ongoing rift between the nature vs nurture camps. For me, the most frustrating part was that it apparently wouldn’t make financial sense for pharmaceutical companies to research ways to treat schizophrenia so any potential avenues to new medications were cut off.
Many of the family members were interviewed by the author so he got firsthand information on their lives over the past sixty-plus years. I was never able to comprehend why the parents kept having child after child after child, twelve in twenty years. Yes, the parents’ reasoning was explained but it never made any sense to me. This is a family that was dysfunctional long before any signs of psychosis emerged.
Compelling, intriguing, and horrifying all at once. How much of the misery could have been mitigated had there not been so many secrets and obfuscations?
The author writes to the layman, presenting complex information on schizophrenia and mental illness in a clear way. Not only does he go into great depth in describing the Galvins and their experiences, but he interviews researchers as well, elucidating the ongoing rift between the nature vs nurture camps. For me, the most frustrating part was that it apparently wouldn’t make financial sense for pharmaceutical companies to research ways to treat schizophrenia so any potential avenues to new medications were cut off.
Many of the family members were interviewed by the author so he got firsthand information on their lives over the past sixty-plus years. I was never able to comprehend why the parents kept having child after child after child, twelve in twenty years. Yes, the parents’ reasoning was explained but it never made any sense to me. This is a family that was dysfunctional long before any signs of psychosis emerged.
Compelling, intriguing, and horrifying all at once. How much of the misery could have been mitigated had there not been so many secrets and obfuscations?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Abandonment