The Seattle Times reviews the new memoir, "Hurry Down Sunshine," by Michael Greenberg in which he explores his teenaged daughter's descent into mental illness, treatment and tentative recovery. You can also see an interview with Greenberg at Amazon.com.
The Times review says:
Greenberg deftly shows that sometimes the ones who bear the "stigma" of a diagnosis can possess potent distillations of truth, while others who move about in the "real world" seem to have only a marginal grasp on reality. At one point even Greenberg, who has assumed the role of stalwart guide through this discomfiting tour of madness, engaged in behavior that will leave his readers shaken.
Greenberg sought solace and insight by studying the lives of others who have gone through similar painful experiences — poet Robert Lowell's own lifelong battle with mental illness, and James Joyce's desperate attempts to explain and accommodate his daughter Lucia's mental pathology.
But there are no real answers, and no happy endings. With family support, medications and the help of a psychiatrist, Sally was able to negotiate a path back into some kind of stabilized life. But as Greenberg's painfully honest book makes clear, there are patches of calm and then there are setbacks for anyone dealing with mental illness. It is an unending series of negotiations with the chemistry of one's brain.
