There are many books and memoirs about how people with schizophrenia struggle with their illness, but not so many about how their families struggle. As a result, this is a valuable book. The author writes about things many people without mentally ill relatives wouldn't think of -- how J's illness has taken over every aspect of their lives, how it's hard to plan anything because they never know when he might need help, how heartbreaking it is to see an intelligent and promising young man deteriorate like this, how difficult it is to get other people to see beyond his illness to the good, kind person he is. Having a relative with schizophrenia, Hanson points out, is much more difficult than having a relative with a chronic illness like cancer, because of the stigma attached and because the mentally ill person often doesn't believe they're ill and will resist treatment.

I think families of the mentally ill would find much moral support from this book. Those mentally ill people who have insight into their condition might also benefit from reading it and seeing their illness through their families' eyes. I only with Hanson had included a list of support organizations in the back. ( )

interesting, but very repetitive ( )

So badly written I can't believe it got published, much less featured on NPR. ( )