Reviews
- One Family’s Story of Mental Illness and What Came After
New York Times, April 4, 2017 - Tough new book claims 'No One Cares About Crazy People'
USA Today, March 27, 2017 - 'No One Cares About Crazy People' cries for more attention for the mentally ill
Christian Science Monitor, March 27, 2017
Other Books at CCBC Libraries by Ron Powers
Mark Twain by
Mark Twain founded the American voice. His works are a living national treasury: taught, quoted, and reprinted more than those of any writer except Shakespeare. His awestruck contemporaries saw him as the representative figure of his times, and his influence has deeply flavoured the 20th and 21st centuries. Yet somehow, beneath the vast flowing river of literature that he left behind - books, sketches, speeches, not to mention the thousands of letters to his friends and his remarkable entries in private journals - the man who became Mark Twain, Samuel Langhorne Clemens, has receded from view.It is hard to imagine a life that encompassed more of its times. Sam Clemens left his frontier boyhood in Missouri for a life on the Mississippi during the golden age of steamboats. He skirted the western theater of the Civil War before taking off for an uproariously drunken newspaper career in the Nevada of the Wild West. As his fame as a humorist and lecturer spread, witnessing the extremes of wealth and poverty of New York City and the Gilded Age (which he named). He travelled to Europe on the first American pleasure cruise and revitalized the prim genre of travel writing. He wooed and won his lifelong devoted wife, yet quietly pined for the girl who was his first crush and whom he would re-encounter many decades later. He invented and invested in get-rich-quick schemes. He became the toast of Europe and a celebrity who toured the globe. His comments on everything he saw, many published here for the first time, are priceless. The man who emerges in Powers'brilliant telling is both the magnetic, acerbic, and hilarious Mark Twain of myth and a devoted friend, husband, and father; a whirlwind of optimism and restless energy; and above all, a wide-eared and wide-eyed observer who absorbed every sight and sound, and poured it into his characters, plots, jokes, businesses, and life. Mark Twain offers an unrivalled insight into the life of one of America's greatest writers whose culteral influence was seminal in the creation of modern America.
Call Number: PS1331 .P69 2005
Dangerous Waters by
Twain was a distinctly American writer. From age ten when he boarded his first Mississippi steamer to his first encounter with a traveling "mesmerizer” (from which Twain gained a penchant for acting and a flair for spectacle); from the brooding sense of guilt and fear of eternal damnation inculcated into him at church to the superstitions and stories of witchcraft he learned from the Blacks on his farm, Twain was shaped by the people of Hannibal, Missouri and by a distinctly American culture.Interwoven between Twain’s childhood experiences are various themes of nature expressed in beautifully written passages that evoke scenes like those of the Mississippi River as it flows through Hannibal and of the mysterious, foreboding cave in which Twain used to play.During his childhood, Mark Twain learned to negotiate the "dangerous waters” of experience and turn trials into humorous stories that shaped the American literary tradition.
Call Number: PS1332 .P68 1999
The Beast, the Eunuch and the Glass-Eyed Child by
In this lively & provocative collection of essays, veteran media critic Ron Powers, recipient of both a Pulitzer Prize & an Emmy Award, takes a searing look at a pivotal decade in TV history. He playfully presents some serious thoughts on TV, arguing that TV is a subject of utmost importance, perhaps the unifying & inevitable subject of our time. The essays by Powers contain significant insights into what TV did for us &, most especially, to us in the 1980s. He shows how America has reached a stage where the distinction between entertainment, news, & education -- between TV & the real world -- has nearly vanished. -- from publisher
Call Number: PN1992.3 .U5 P69 1990
Troubled Teen Industry
- The Troubled Teen Industry and Its Effects: An Oral History
University of New Hampshire Inquiry Journal, Spring 2022
The Book
No One Cares About Crazy People by Call Number: RC514 .P69 2017ISBN: 9780316341172"New York Times bestselling author Ron Powers offers a searching, richly researched narrative of the social history of mental illness in America paired with the deeply personal story of his two sons' battles with schizophrenia. From the centuries of torture of "lunatiks" at Bedlam Asylum to the infamous eugenics era to the follies of the anti-psychiatry movement to the current landscape in which too many families struggle alone to manage afflicted love ones, Powers limns our fears and myths about mental illness and the fractured public policies that have resulted. Braided with that history is the moving story of Powers's beloved son Kevin--spirited, endearing, and gifted--who triumphed even while suffering from schizophrenia until finally he did not, and the story of his courageous surviving son Dean, who is also schizophrenic. A blend of history, biography, memoir, and current affairs ending with a consideration of where we might go from here, this is a thought-provoking look at a dreaded illness that has long been misunderstood"-- Provided by publisher.
From CBS Evening News, May 4, 2017
Trailer of upcoming film
Emil Kraepelin
- Emil Kraepelin: A pioneer of scientific understanding of psychiatry and psychopharmacology
National Library of Medicine
Interior Voices and Schizophrenia
- Does everyone have an inner monologue?
Live Science, June 12, 2021 - Psychologist: Persons with schizophrenia believe their inner voices in their heads are strangers
Science in Poland, March 8, 2015
Website of the Book
- No One Cares About Crazy PeopleThe author's website. Includes current events, photos, and videos
The Film
A film is being produced, based in part on this book.
Books at CCBC Libraries on Schizophrenia
Beyond Schizophrenia by
The experience of living and working with schizophrenia is often fraught with challenges and setbacks. This book is a comprehensive attempt to explain why, in spite of near-miraculous advances in medication and treatment, persons with mental illness fare worse than almost any other disadvantaged group in the labor market. As a researcher of economics and disability and the mother of a son with schizophrenia, the author speaks from both professional and personal experience. First, she looks at societal factors that affect employment outcomes for persons with schizophrenia (or other serious mental illness), including stigma and discrimination, investments in human capital, the quality of mental health services, and the support of family and friends. Then she examines workplace factors that affect employment outcomes, including employer mandates in the Americans with Disabilities Act, the decision to disclose a diagnosis of mental illness at work, the interaction between job demands and functional limitations, and job accommodations for persons with a serious mental illness. Giving weight to both perspectives, the final chapter outlines a set of policy recommendations designed to improve employment outcomes for this population.
Call Number: HV3005 .B346 2016
Understanding Schizophrenia by
Written by two physicians with decades of clinical and research experience in the field, this volume helps readers face schizophrenia by understanding what it is and how it is managed. Schizophrenia is a devastating illness that affects more than two million Americans. Written to help anyone who is faced with managing schizophrenia, whether as a patient, friend, or family member, this accessible book is an ideal first stop for practical, up-to-date information. It includes an overview of schizophrenic disorder and provides answers to common questions that arise at different phases of the illness. This brief and to-the-point guide focuses on dealing with many aspects of schizophrenia--complying with treatment, managing crises, being a caregiver, communicating with the care team, and coping skills. The book also provides practical approaches to common issues, such as financial support, housing, employment, interacting with the legal system, stress management, socialization, and negative emotions. Included are useful forms, lists, and a comprehensive collection of resources to access help and information. The goal of this book is to assist patients and their loved ones to effectively face schizophrenia, achieve maximal recovery, and enjoy a good quality of life. Provides a succinct, introductory guide to getting started on the road to understanding schizophrenia Answers questions commonly asked at initial diagnosis and later, and explains facts and concepts using real-world examples and pictorial illustrations Offers practical, evidence-based, and up-to-date information Clarifies the nonmedical burdens of schizophrenia, such as loneliness, socialization, and coping with negative emotions Presents an authoritative, reliable alternative to Internet sources that contain biased or inaccurate information Helps those who are diagnosed with schizophrenia get the most out of their lives
Call Number: RC514 .R3858 2015
Schizophrenia by
A neuroscientist explores the biological bases of schizophrenia and tells the heartbreaking story of his own brother's battle with the disease. Honorable Mention for the AMWA Medical Book Awards of the American Medical Writers Association When bright lives are derailed by schizophrenia, bewildered and anxious families struggle to help, and to cope, even as scientists search for causes and treatments that prove elusive. Painful and often misunderstood, schizophrenia profoundly affects people who have the disease and their loved ones. Here Ronald Chase, an accomplished biologist, sets out to discover the facts about the disease and better understand what happened to his older brother, Jim, who developed schizophrenia as a young adult. Chase's account alternates between a fiercely loyal and honest memoir and rigorous scientific exploration. He finds scientific answers to deeply personal questions about the course of his brother's illness. He describes psychiatric practice from the 1950s--when electroconvulsive shock therapy was common and the use of antipsychotic medications was in its infancy--to the development of newer treatments in the 1990s. Current medical and scientific research increases our understanding of genetic and environmental causes of the disease . Chase also explores the stigma of mental illness, the evolution of schizophrenia, the paradox of its persistence despite low reproduction rates in persons with the disease, and the human stories behind death statistics. With the author's intimate knowledge of the suffering caused by this disease, Schizophreniaemphasizes research strategies, the importance of sound scientific approaches, and the challenges that remain.
Call Number: RC514 .C463 2013
Surviving Schizophrenia, 6th Edition by
Updated throughout and filled with all the latest research, the bestselling Surviving Schizophrenia is back, now in its sixth edition. Since its first publication in 1983, Surviving Schizophrenia has become the standard reference book on the disease and has helped thousands of patients, their families, and mental health professionals. In clear language, this much-praised and important book describes the nature, causes, symptoms, treatment, and course of schizophrenia and also explores living with it from both the patient's and the family's point of view. This new, completely updated sixth edition includes the latest research findings on what causes the disease, as well as information about the newest drugs for treatment, and answers the questions most often asked by families, consumers, and providers.
Call Number: RC514 .T633 2013
Bedlam
- How Bedlam Became London's Most Iconic Symbol
BBC Culture, December 15, 2016