This thread is for reviews of biographies and memoirs.
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If a Man Be Mad
By Harold Maine
Hardcover, ©1947, Doubleday & Company, Inc.
If a Man Be Mad by Harold Maine is no light read. This 1947 autobiography of an alcoholic is a journey into a world of desperation and hopelessness. From his beginnings as a troubled youth to his eventual employment as an orderly in a psychiatric institution, Maine carries the reader through a saga of addiction and insanity, both on the behalf of the author and on behalf of society at large.
There are several perspectives one can take while reading this book. The clinical perspective is derived from Maines surprise and disgust with the unorthodox treatment of the mentally ill within state and privately funded institutions. Specifically during the time Maine was admitted into these facilities, the main method of controlling the compulsions of the insane and addicted was incarceration and abandonment. Once inside the gates, patients were subjected to abuse on behalf of sadistic orderlies, looking for a punching bag and an outlet for anger, and egomaniacal doctors, determined to discover the concoction of medication and discipline that would ultimately cure the illness, at the expense of the patients health and what little sanity they were clinging to.
Beyond the clinical perspective is the philosophical narrative of Maines own descent into insanity, a gateway opened through drink. During Maines bouts with instability, he was able to act as an outside observer at the same time his actions were out of control. He held a degree of detachment that allowed him to intelligently note when his behavior was dangerous, when he was hallucinating or when he was behaving criminally and unethically, yet he had no power to stop himself. His memory of events and dialogues throughout his various ordeals is incredibly vivid and astute, despite his revolving in and out of drunken stupors.
Maines personal struggle with the shifting divisions between reality and madness provide a fascinating glimpse into the mind of an artist. This is not the type of story one plows through in one sitting and dismisses. Maine provides the type of content that must be digested in pieces, contemplated, and meditated upon. To accept anything at face value does an injustice to those suffering from mental illness. Maine possesses a gift in his ability to decipher the many facets of personality and the origin of a persons motivations.
As he notes that most of the names within his autobiography have been changed, Harold Maine is actually the pseudonym for the author Walker Winslow. However, to retrieve much information on the true identity of this mysterious and private author is difficult. I was able to dig up another psychiatry related nonfiction release entitled The Menninger Story, published in 1956 by Doubleday. A novel, Man in Paradise, was published in 1941 by Smith and Durrell. Through the accounts of his writing in If a Man Be Mad, we know that he had various pieces published by magazines, but many of these were also published under pseudonyms. I found an article titled A Lesson from History, but digging up the actual text has proved to be a challenge. If anyone can provide me with any more information on this intellectual, I would be very appreciative.
By Harold Maine
Hardcover, ©1947, Doubleday & Company, Inc.
If a Man Be Mad by Harold Maine is no light read. This 1947 autobiography of an alcoholic is a journey into a world of desperation and hopelessness. From his beginnings as a troubled youth to his eventual employment as an orderly in a psychiatric institution, Maine carries the reader through a saga of addiction and insanity, both on the behalf of the author and on behalf of society at large.
There are several perspectives one can take while reading this book. The clinical perspective is derived from Maines surprise and disgust with the unorthodox treatment of the mentally ill within state and privately funded institutions. Specifically during the time Maine was admitted into these facilities, the main method of controlling the compulsions of the insane and addicted was incarceration and abandonment. Once inside the gates, patients were subjected to abuse on behalf of sadistic orderlies, looking for a punching bag and an outlet for anger, and egomaniacal doctors, determined to discover the concoction of medication and discipline that would ultimately cure the illness, at the expense of the patients health and what little sanity they were clinging to.
Beyond the clinical perspective is the philosophical narrative of Maines own descent into insanity, a gateway opened through drink. During Maines bouts with instability, he was able to act as an outside observer at the same time his actions were out of control. He held a degree of detachment that allowed him to intelligently note when his behavior was dangerous, when he was hallucinating or when he was behaving criminally and unethically, yet he had no power to stop himself. His memory of events and dialogues throughout his various ordeals is incredibly vivid and astute, despite his revolving in and out of drunken stupors.
Maines personal struggle with the shifting divisions between reality and madness provide a fascinating glimpse into the mind of an artist. This is not the type of story one plows through in one sitting and dismisses. Maine provides the type of content that must be digested in pieces, contemplated, and meditated upon. To accept anything at face value does an injustice to those suffering from mental illness. Maine possesses a gift in his ability to decipher the many facets of personality and the origin of a persons motivations.
As he notes that most of the names within his autobiography have been changed, Harold Maine is actually the pseudonym for the author Walker Winslow. However, to retrieve much information on the true identity of this mysterious and private author is difficult. I was able to dig up another psychiatry related nonfiction release entitled The Menninger Story, published in 1956 by Doubleday. A novel, Man in Paradise, was published in 1941 by Smith and Durrell. Through the accounts of his writing in If a Man Be Mad, we know that he had various pieces published by magazines, but many of these were also published under pseudonyms. I found an article titled A Lesson from History, but digging up the actual text has proved to be a challenge. If anyone can provide me with any more information on this intellectual, I would be very appreciative.