Book cover of While You Were Out: An Intimate Family Portrait of Mental Illness in an Era of Silence

Book description

From award-winning journalist Meg Kissinger, a searing memoir of a family besieged by mental illness, as well as an incisive exploration of the systems that failed them and a testament to the love that sustained them.

Growing up in the 1960s in the suburbs of Chicago, Meg Kissinger’s family seemed…

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Why read it?

1 author picked While You Were Out as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Meg Kissinger is brave to write a memoir about challenging issues and share her story. Although the issues are tough and challenging - grief, and mental illness, they are personal and themes that resonated with me. Meg grew up in suburban Chicago during the 1960's and a family that presented itself what on the outside conflicted what was inside. Both her parents struggled with mental illness, and two of her siblings took their own lives. As a journalist, Meg devoted decades advocating for flaws in the mental health system. While You Were Out is beautiful written with heart, compassion, and…

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Book cover of December on 5C4

December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

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