Hidden Valley Road
Inside the Mind of an American Family
گزارش تخلف
- اطلاعات
- نقد و بررسی
- دیدگاه کاربران
نقد و بررسی
This enthralling true story unfolds like a novel with narrator Sean Pratt playing all the parts. He gives a convincing performance of all the Galvins. His timing and subtle delivery bring the listener inside the minds--normal and abnormal--of this family of 12 children, half of whom suffer from schizophrenia. He reads the 45 short chapters with careful pacing and animates the bizarre history. The shocking facts--and the author uses neither composites nor invented scenes--of the six Galvin boys who developed serious mental disorders are told as character studies enhanced by revealing details. Intertwined are the evolution of the malady's diagnosis and the progression of research that links schizophrenia to genetics. This empathic audiobook explores the toll that mental disease takes on a family. It is mesmerizing. A.D.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award � AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
Starred review from October 1, 2020
Once upon a time, the Galvin family seemed perfect. Father Don's work with the Air Force brought the family to (coincidentally, presciently named) Hidden Valley Road in Colorado. There, mother Mary oversaw the raising and nurturing of their dozen children--10 boys and two girls born between 1945 and 1965. But behind closed doors, violence, neglect, and abuse soon revealed even deeper issues: Six Galvin sons would be diagnosed with schizophrenia. As horrific as the family's tragedy is, their experiences provide scientists at the National Institute of Mental Health (and beyond) with invaluable insights into a long-misunderstood illness. What could easily have devolved into lurid voyeurism becomes a journalistic masterpiece in Kolker's (Lost Girls) spellbinding latest. Sean Pratt proves himself Kolker's ideal aural alter ego, avoiding all sensationalizing, narrating with the same deliberate control when he reveals a murder-suicide as when he interprets neuroscientific data. Pratt's spellbinding ability to seamlessly shift between personal stories and medical history is testimony to the book's resonating brilliance. VERDICT Whether on the page or in the ears, all libraries will want to enable readers with easy access to what will certainly be one of the most award-winning titles of the year.--Terry Hong, Smithsonian BookDragon, Washington, DC
Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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