A Mind Unraveled

Starred review from July 23, 2018
An epilepsy sufferer finds treatment almost as dangerous as his ailment in this gripping memoir. Newsweek writer Eichenwald (The Informant) recounts his struggle from the age of 18 with grand mal epileptic seizures that made him lose consciousness and collapse into convulsions, leaving him disoriented and amnesiac when he came to, not knowing where he was or how he got there. The seizures’ onset inaugurated a terrifying years-long period that had him waking up in emergency rooms, under a snowdrift, on a subway platform being beaten by hoodlums, or bleeding profusely after he was raped while unconscious. Overshadowing the epilepsy, he writes, was bad treatment from arrogant, incompetent doctors who almost killed him with toxic doses of anticonvulsant medications or absurdly misdiagnosed him with a mental illness. The author also battled stigma and discrimination, facing a protracted campaign by Swarthmore College to expel him because of his seizures and, as he started his journalism career in the 1980s, the near impossibility of getting health insurance. Meticulous but passionate, Eichenwald’s narrative is a suspenseful medical thriller about a condition that makes everyday life a mine field, a fierce indictment of a callous medical establishment, and an against-the-odds recovery saga. The result is a terrific memoir with
a stinging critique of health care gone awry.

August 1, 2018
A journalist recounts his decadeslong struggle with epilepsy.Veteran journalist Eichenwald (500 Days: Secrets and Lies in the Terror Wars, 2012, etc.), a two-time winner of the George Polk Award, engrossingly relates his experiences with frequent epileptic seizures and the impact this condition has had on his life: "I have lived most of my life knowing I could be seconds from falling to the ground, seizing, burning, freezing, or worse....For years, I believed that each day might be my last, that I would die from an accident or a seizure or by my own hand. I lived in a boundless minefield, never knowing if I was a step away from triggering an explosion." The author focuses mainly on his younger years, when he entered college up through his struggles to establish a foothold in his career. Central to his story are the grueling efforts he and his family faced trying to ensure his remittance to Swarthmore College. Through a combination of gross medical incompetence and disturbing administrative offenses within the college, Eichenwald was forced to leave during his first semester; he had to seek out extensive legal and medical intervention before he was able to continue his education. The author goes on to recount similar struggles in launching his early career. Throughout, Eichenwald brings his measured journalistic directness to the various dramas that enfold. His experiences pointedly reflect the challenges of trying to live a normal life while at the mercy of his condition, but more expansively, he relates the challenges that many disabled people face. He concludes each chapter with interview quotes, diary entries, and letters by various family members, close friends, and physicians. Though he mentions having kept these records as a means to organize his thoughts in response to increasing memory loss, their inclusion adds a somewhat cloying inspirational element that slightly undermines the strength and authority of the story he has to tell.An enlightening and often moving memoir of one man's struggle to live with a chronic and debilitating condition.

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Starred review from September 1, 2018
In this riveting personal narrative, best-selling Eichenwald (500 Days, 2012) tells his devastating story of suffering from epilepsy and waging a nearly lifelong battle against discrimination accorded those who endure this malady. He describes the confusion of his teenage diagnosis, his father's outright refusal to seriously address the disease, and then, alarmingly, the enormous fights he had with the medical establishment. Nearly killed by doctors who failed to treat him appropriately, Eichenwald found himself also battling to stay in college at Swarthmore. Subjected to every denial of respect a student can imagine plus repeated episodes of gaslighting by university personnel that ultimately caused his parents to consider the possibility that he might be losing his mind, Eichenwald was driven to the brink. It is frankly infuriating to consider how much adversity he had to contend with, not only due to his seizures but more so from the behavior of doctors, school administrators, and employers. In this account of the brutal war he was forced to fight, he relies on old diaries and audiotapes as well as recent interviews for accuracy. Eichenwald has created a universal tale of resilience wrapped in a primal scream against the far-too-savage world. Book clubs will clamor for this tale of survival and call for compassion.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

Starred review from September 15, 2018

Beginning with his college years at Swarthmore to his time as an investigative reporter, Eichenwald (The Informant) thoughtfully conveys what it means to live with shame and stigma owing to disability. After being diagnosed with epilepsy in his 20s, the author lived in the shadows, afraid of losing jobs or friends, and experiencing denial and dismay from his parents. In response, he confided in his college roommates while trying to avoid putting his emotional needs in their hands. This memoir shines when expressing the vulnerability and uncertainty that comes along with disability. In Eichenwald's case, this involved a lengthy search for a neurologist who was able to properly treat his severe, life-changing seizures and memory impairment, while being misdiagnosed and mistreated in the process. He also sheds much-needed light on the challenges of life with a disability or chronic illness--trying to obtain health insurance with a preexisting condition, deciding whether to disclose his situation at work, and often wondering about accessibility. Recollections from friends, family, and former doctors are interspersed between each chapter, adding context to how the author's experiences have shaped and transformed their relationships. VERDICT A passionate memoir of health and life and what it means to embrace both. [See Prepub Alert, 4/23/18.]--Stephanie Sendaula, Library Journal

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2018

A two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, two-time George Polk Award winner, and New York Times best-selling author (e.g., The Informants), Eichenwald could tell a remarkable enough story, but here's something bigger: he's forthright about his epilepsy and the discrimination he's faced.

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.