Book description
"Perhaps the most honest and haunting accounts of the struggle for mental health in literature." — Observer
This dramatic memoir recounts an eight-month stay at a Westchester mental hospital in the early 1930s. William Seabrook, a renowned journalist and explorer, voluntarily committed himself to an asylum for treatment of acute…
Why read it?
1 author picked Asylum as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
I have a weakness for books written in the 1930s, and this one is intense and riveting, as well as historically educational.
It shows the contrast between the mental hospitals of the past and those of today through the eyes of the notorious William Seabrook, a real-life “Indiana Jones” and bestselling author of his time.
Seabrook commits himself to a posh mental asylum for alcoholism. After the DTs have passed, his impressions of his fellow inmates and his personal journey toward sobriety are chronicled.
Gut-wrenching, funny, smart, and honest - it’s a great read!
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