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Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant, moving, helpful to family members
Review: Although I sometimes have difficulty concentrating while reading, I did not have any trouble zipping through this extremely interesting book about both Robert and Jay. I laughed and cried and swore, I hated their mother and the stupid mental health professionals, I counted my blessings. I also found the writing as irritating as one of other reviewers did, but I just kept on going for an overall revealing, enjoyable reading experience. Convoluted sentences are hardly the Neugeboren brothers' biggest problems. Thanks, Jay--and Robert.
Rating: 
Summary: Well worth reading.
Review: As someone who has made a career of helping the mentally ill, This book broke my heart. Yet I believed the problems existed as stated.As the parent of a child who, as a teen, developed the need for the safety of psychiatric hospitals, I cried for Jay and his family. As someone who became clinically depressed after my child's serious suicide attempt, I easily understood the need for what sometimes seemed like unrealistic optimism. This book offers something for anyone involved with people who are mentally ill. Read it. Keep it. Learn from it.
Rating:
Summary: Well worth reading.
Review: First, the good things: it must have taken courage to write the book, because of the possibility of betraying the privacy of the family. At the same time, the writing process must have been immensely satisfying. I imagine Jay finishing it, sitting back, smiling, and saying "If God takes me tomorrow, that's ok; the story has been told." In fact, Jay came to visit my college English class, and he told us that's exactly what he was thinking. I know how difficult it is to tell a true story about oneself in such remarkable detail, which is why the book earns three stars. But based on its execution, I'd rather only give it two. Here's why... Is this book really about Robert? How many times does Jay congratulate himself on rising above a background that was out to get him? He went to Columbia, you know. And did he mention he's a writer? He throws that in so many times, you just KNOW he views being a writer as the noblest and most enviable profession in the world. The phrase "my accomplishments" crops up an awful lot, especially in a book supposedly dedicated to a mentally ill brother. Also, did Jay mention he's a writer? And yes, the sentence structure was maddening (pun intended). A sentence can go on for an entire page, sometimes to such ridiculous lengths that I'd walk down the hall and read it aloud to my friends, just to show them with what I was dealing. I understand this problem a bit, though. I imagine Jay sitting at his desk with so much to say, afraid that if he doesn't put as much down as possible, as soon as it comes into his head, he'll lose it. So he erects a quick parenthetical fence and sends it down. Basically, when I'd finished reading the book for my English class, I wished that Robert could come to visit instead of Jay. Much as Jay tries to overshadow him, Robert is the star of this book and a truly fascinating character. I realize that I only know about Robert through Jay's writing, so I respect Jay for that. But the book irritated me to no end. I guess I'm just not sensitive enough.
Rating: 
Summary: Let us all kneel before the Great Jay
Review: First, the good things: it must have taken courage to write the book, because of the possibility of betraying the privacy of the family. At the same time, the writing process must have been immensely satisfying. I imagine Jay finishing it, sitting back, smiling, and saying "If God takes me tomorrow, that's ok; the story has been told." In fact, Jay came to visit my college English class, and he told us that's exactly what he was thinking. I know how difficult it is to tell a true story about oneself in such remarkable detail, which is why the book earns three stars. But based on its execution, I'd rather only give it two. Here's why... Is this book really about Robert? How many times does Jay congratulate himself on rising above a background that was out to get him? He went to Columbia, you know. And did he mention he's a writer? He throws that in so many times, you just KNOW he views being a writer as the noblest and most enviable profession in the world. The phrase "my accomplishments" crops up an awful lot, especially in a book supposedly dedicated to a mentally ill brother. Also, did Jay mention he's a writer? And yes, the sentence structure was maddening (pun intended). A sentence can go on for an entire page, sometimes to such ridiculous lengths that I'd walk down the hall and read it aloud to my friends, just to show them with what I was dealing. I understand this problem a bit, though. I imagine Jay sitting at his desk with so much to say, afraid that if he doesn't put as much down as possible, as soon as it comes into his head, he'll lose it. So he erects a quick parenthetical fence and sends it down. Basically, when I'd finished reading the book for my English class, I wished that Robert could come to visit instead of Jay. Much as Jay tries to overshadow him, Robert is the star of this book and a truly fascinating character. I realize that I only know about Robert through Jay's writing, so I respect Jay for that. But the book irritated me to no end. I guess I'm just not sensitive enough.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant, moving, helpful to family members
Review: If you're looking for a way to help a mentally ill relative, you must read this compelling book and its (equally compelling) successor, "Transforming Madness: New Lives for People Living with Mental Illness," also by Morrow. No, don't just read them. Buy them; tuck them away in a visible, dust-free spot; pull them out for inspiration when your relationship with your relative falls into a pothole. Big Neugie and Little Neugie will help pull the two of you out of it and go on with your lives together.
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