9 Highland Road
Sane Living for the Mentally Ill
Michael Winerip
- Before
- Julie
- Callahan
- came
- to
- the
- house
- at
- 9
- Highland
- Road
- in
- Glen
- Cove,
- New
- York,
- she
- had
- spent
- a
- good
- part
- of
- her
- young
- life
- in
- mental
- hospitals,
- her
- mental
- and
- emotional
- coherence
- nearly
- destroyed
- by
- a
- childhood
- of
- sexual
- abuse.
- Fred
- Grasso,
- a
- schizophrenic,
- had
- lived
- in
- a
- filthy
- single-room
- occupancy
- hotel.
- At
- 9
- Highland
- Road
- they
- and
- their
- housemates
- were
- given
- a
- decent
- alternative
- to
- lives
- in
- institutions
- or
- in
- the
- streets.
- It
- was
- a
- place
- in
- which
- some
- even
- found
- the
- chance
- to
- get
- better.This
- perfectly
- observed
- and
- passionately
- imagined
- book
- takes
- us
- inside
- one
- of
- the
- supervised
- group
- homes
- that,
- in
- an
- age
- of
- shrinking
- state
- budgets
- and
- psychotropic
- drugs,
- have
- emerged
- as
- the
- backbone
- of
- America's
- mental
- health
- system.
- As
- it
- follows
- the
- progress
- and
- setbacks
- of
- residents,
- their
- families,
- and
- counselors
- and
- notes
- the
- embittered
- resistance
- their
- presence
- initially
- aroused
- in
- the
- neighborhood,
- 9
- Highland
- Road
- succeeds
- in
- opening
- the
- locked
- world
- of
- mental
- illness.
- It
- does
- so
- with
- an
- empathy
- and
- insight
- that
- will
- change
- forever
- the
- way
- we
- understand
- and
- act
- in
- relation
- to
- that world.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
