Rating: 
Summary: Very misleading
Review: I'm bipolar, and was given this book. It was written with the best of intent, but it made me very angry to read it. First, she spends so much time talking about Nick's depression as a disease, a genetic problem, a medical condition, but doesn't even think that a big part of his condition was his upbringing. You learn everything from your parents, and when mom is jet-setting Europe, writing books, and popping out more kids, you'll grow up with issues. The only time Nick got attention was when he went off of his medicine or did something else extreme. The entire book builds Nick into some kind of god but ignores that his trouble is more than a bad gene or something. I'm glad my mother didn't read this book when I was 14 and lock me into some kind of concentration camp reeducation resort based on this flawed information about manic-depression.
Rating: 
Summary: knowledge
Review: This book is so great! All my firends read it after me and said they loved it also! It touches your heart and makes you realise how ignorant we all are to so many things in the world! If you like touching storys of truth that can help u learn about yourself and others then you will love this one!
Rating: 
Summary: Endearing and Poignant, but Realistic?
Review: I came across this book by accident. In the past I had seen it was a Danielle Steel book and thought, "Why would I want to read that?" Then I realized it was about the suicide of her son. And that her son had suffered from bipolar disorder. Like Nick, I also have bipolar disorder. I think the book shows us a realistic portrait of life with someone with severe mental illness. However, as a bipolar myself, I need to point out that Steel's description of her son is not that of a typical bipolar. When I finished the book I thought to myself, "That sounds nothing at ALL like me." I think many of the symptoms he exhibited could have been better attributed to his ADHD, but at the same time, bipolar disorder is different for each person who has it. Essentially, what I want to say is, Don't believe that Steel's account of her son is that of a typical person with bipolar.
Rating:
Summary: A WORK OF ART
Review: Nick Traina (he was the author's natural son and not adopted as one reviewer noted) was truly a gift. Bright and highly verbal, Nick demonstrated rare talents from a very early age. At 6 months, he greeted people with, "I'm incredible!" And indeed he was. He spoke in full sentences by age one and his first birthday party brought a smile to my face when Nick insisted on having "disco music and a clown" (remember folks, this was 1979). As a toddler, Nick talked about "when he was big" and he "was here before." I was sorry the author was terrified by this and did not wxplore this further as it would have been interesting to know Nick's perspective. Nick abosbed languages early and was fluent in Spanish and Italian before he was three. He made fine distinctions in language and this was apparent in his refusal to learn French. For some reason, Nick never liked French and objected strenuously to hearing it spoken in his presence. I loved Nick's strong stand on everything. He refused to wear certain things ("that has a giraffe on it! You expect me to wear that! ") and showed a maturity that one does not readily associate with toddlers. Problems showed up early in Nick's life. Slow to toilet train, Nick wet and soiled himself and the bathtub until he was four. Pictures were done in harsh, black crayon. Nick showed sexual precocity by pinching women's bottoms and talking in quite an adult sounding manner about "loving the ladies." This from a pre-schooler! Nick's flair for the original marked his entire, short life. He methodically collected and sorted baseball cards, he loved lip synching in costume at his school's annual show, he loved writing poetry and singing. It came as no surprise to learn that Nick got his own rock band together while still a teenager and that his poetry was of an unusually high caliber. Nick's mental illness appeared to show up early in his life, but it was not until he was in middle school that it was formally recognized. He reverted to soiling the bathtub at age 11 and the death of a classmate seemed to set his development back further. On the one hand, Nick was very much a child, rebelling about clothing and on the other hand he exuded an adult aura that was at times, frightening. A good example of this was how he convinced the daughter of a friend of his mother and adopted father that he was really in college and that he was really 21. (He was about 12 then). It was incredible, (yes, Nick's word) that this child was so precocious in adult sexual behavior and very convincing in his presentation. He clearly had a gift for acting from all accounts and was wonderfully original and creative. During his teen years, Nick suffered breakdowns and was hospitalized. Whenever he toured with his band, he had a medical attendant tag along to supervise him and be sure he had his regular dosages of medication. Nick seemed to accept his mental condition and seemed to feel he would just have to cope with it. In typically sounding Nick fashion, I couldn't help smiling at the author's description of how Nick was mentally on a par with adult patients, but nothing like them as far as life experiences. He had never had to confront day-to-day issues of adult life, e.g. raising a family, paying taxes, job hunting, buying a home and the like. Intellectually, Nick could hold his own and do so admirably. He was one of the most interesting people I have ever read about. Sadly, Nick was like a comet. Bright and beautiful, a gifted work of art, Nick was so consumed with depression and mental illness that he ultimately took his life. Like a comet, the likes of this bright light will never be seen again.
Rating: 
Summary: Heartbreaking ... Felt like I knew Nick ...
Review: I am 27 years old, have bipolar, and often cried during my reading ofthis book. I read most of it. At times, I felt I couldnt finishreading it, because the pain described by Danielle Steel is so real.God Bless her for writing it. I felt more heartbroken about Nickthan any woman who broke my heart in the past. I think the phrase"brilliant mind, heart of gold, and tortured soul" sums up alot of it. It's amazing to describe so much in those few words.I've research bipolar very extensively since accepting it almosttwo years ago. I felt this book hit me hardest in terms of emotionalresponse. Danielle Steele's phrases, "Fly well my darlingboy, till we meet again" and one about this not being the book Iplanned to write and dedicate for you brought tears to my eyes.
Rating:
Summary: memoir of love
Review: His Bright Light was a touching biography of danielle steel's manic depressive son and his life. the book shows danielle's unconditional love and constant hope in wanting her son to be and feel "normal", even though he wasn't. the story makes you fall in love w/ nick and makes you want him to get better and overcome the obstacles in his life. by the end of the book, you feel like you have known nick forever and are sad to see him go. not only does the book teach you a lot about bipolar disease, but also about having faith that everything will turn out all right.
Rating:
Summary: keep kleenex handy
Review: From the day that Nick was born, he was his mothers joy. Danielle Steel shares her powerful story of her son. Nick had an illness called Bipolar, but for most of his life, neither he nor his mother knew what was wrong with him; maybe that's the reason why he is dead today. Nick's gift for writing was as extraordinary as his mother's, and it showed in his journals, where he bared his soul with uncanny insight, in searing poetry and song. In the end, life became too much for Nick, he committed suicide by taking an overdose of heroin. This book was very hard for me to read and review, because having had first a hand experience with the conflicts of Bipolar, I understood what Nick went through in his short life. Keep the box of Kleenex handy when you read this book. The Nick Traina Foundation has been established to benefit mental health, music, child related causes, and other charitable organizations for assorted causes. All the author's proceeds and agents fees from this book will go to the foundation, which will receive direct proceeds from the publisher for all copies sold.
Rating:
Summary: Danielle Steele: A Mother in Denial
Review: Danielle Steele's revealing novel about her adopted son Nick Trainaand his alleged bipolar disorder and manic depression is an unconvincing attempt to exonerate pure, unadulterated child abuse by Nick's mental health professionals. What scant glimpses offered into Nick's mindset leaves the reader with passionately scribed diary excerpts of abuse from his numerous lock-ups in seclusion (in one of the numerous "best interest" psychiatric hospital Mrs. Steele delivered him to). These writings, many of which are indistinguishable from something out of a Holocaust documentary, show him to be a textbook victim of psychiatric malpractice complete with mind-numbing drug therapies that have nothing to show for their effort, paternalistic token economy systems, and cold-as-steel family dynamics reaction to every single problem in her adopted son's adolescent life. Every new problem can only be found in yet another psychiatric hospitalization for her son. Professor and Dean of the School of Social Work at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Ira Schwartz, refers to such adolescent psychiatric practices as the "medicalization of behavior" in his book Injustice for Juveniles as constituting child abuse in and of themselves. (Interestingly, Dr. Ira Schwartz was the same person behind the telling expose on the medical fraud practices uncovered at Charter psychiatric hospital chain in North Carolina) After numerous treatments and therapies, Mrs. Steele is left with nothing but a dead son who she declares emphatically suffered from and died of a bipolar disease and a 5,3-serotonin deficit. Of course, what else could it be? Not surprisingly, this bipolar disorder theory is never supported with any kind of lab result or blood test other than mere psychiatric declaration (along with ADD) that amounts to nothing less than psychiatrese rhetoric - all of which conveniently exonerates the people in Nick's life who he himself described as abusing him in his diary entries to the brink of "madness." In even the slightest deviation of adolescent normalcy, author Danielle Steele speed dials 911 and convenes a team of righteous do-gooders to rush 'sick Nick' to the next psychiatric hospital in what goes over as a melodramatic "cruel-to-be-kind" play to find a medical answer to what many maternal readers will surely see as nothing but the pangs of normal adolescent development. In one chapter, Nick runs away and is then taken to a psychiatric hospital. In another chapter, recreational drug use results in a psychiatric hospitalization. In none of these case does the treatment appear to have even a minimal therapeutic benefit, and more often than not author Danielle Steele notes a worsening affect on Nick's'condition.' Yet the hospitalizations continue unabetted as does the witches brew concoction of psychotropic drugs that Mrs. Steele is convinced her son now needs to imbibe with his breakfast cereal every morning in order to let Nick function like a 'normal' teenager. Any 'normal' child subjected to the indignities and unproven techniques employed by token economy social workers who never-took-a-science-course-in -their-life and the wonderful institutions they work in (some with with "human waste in the stairwell" to quote from one page in the book) need not point the finger of blame at an exotic neurotransmitter hypothesis for what any emotionally complete person can readily see is simply the failure of Nick's mother (and AWOL father) to jettison their heroin-like dependency on the lame psychiatric profession that appears to be using Nick as their primary means to pay for their own children's college tuition. This book belongs in the murder mystery section with a Cliff Notes version replete with footnotes that itemize the numerous examples of psychiatric acts of malpractice Nick battled (and documented in his diary) throughout his life that drove him to take his own life to make the pain go away. The treatment of Nick Traina as described in this book is a cookbook recipe to make ANY child want to kill him or herself - stigma, drugs, loss of self-esteem, missing years of school in psychiatric institutions - what a disgrace.
Rating:
Summary: too bad they only allow 5 stars for this rating
Review: This book was a very touching story of a the famous writter Danielle Stelle. Its a story about her son who suffered with manic depresive. This is a great book about a mother's commitment to help her son. This book also is a good life lesson that even though the writter has tons of money that Money does not always mean hapiness. Buy this book and you will shed some laughs and some tears. I am a grad student in counseling and I think I got a great prospective on this disorder from a mothers point of view.
Rating:
Summary: The invisible disease
Review: The book was well written and realistic. Although I knew what would occur in the end, I still found myself crying and wondering how Danielle Steele could continue writing prolifically while devoting a great deal of energy to her son and her large family. It takes someone with a great and giving heart to come out of this life challenge with love, free of bitterness. I never sensed the "why me?" as we often hear others lament. I was curious to learn more of a cure, other treatments or more on clinical research, but I am assuming that manic depression is still an unknown disease with more questions than answers. I enjoyed the book and appreciated the author's ability to separate the personal emotions from the critical thinking and analytical approach Ms. Steele used to write this book. Thank you for sharing this.
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