Soon to be a major motion picture, from Brad Pitt and Tony KushnerA Washington Post Best Book of 2015A mid-century doctor’s raw, unvarnished account of his own descent into madness, and his daughter’s attempt to piece his life back together and make sense of her own. Texas-born and Harvard-educated, Dr. Perry Baird was a rising medical star in the late 1920s and 1930s. Early in his career, ahead … late 1920s and 1930s. Early in his career, ahead of his time, he grew fascinated with identifying the biochemical root of manic depression, just as he began to suffer from it himself. By the time the results of his groundbreaking experiments were published, Dr. Baird had been institutionalized multiple times, his medical license revoked, and his wife and daughters estranged. He later received a lobotomy and died from a consequent seizure, his research incomplete, his achievements unrecognized.
Mimi Baird grew up never fully knowing this story, as her family went silent about the father who had been absent for most of her childhood. Decades later, a string of extraordinary coincidences led to the recovery of a manuscript which Dr. Baird had worked on throughout his brutal institutionalization, confinement, and escape. This remarkable document, reflecting periods of both manic exhilaration and clear-headed health, presents a startling portrait of a man who was a uniquely astute observer of his own condition, struggling with a disease for which there was no cure, racing against time to unlock the key to treatment before his illness became impossible to manage.
Fifty years after being told her father would forever be “ill” and “away,” Mimi Baird set off on a quest to piece together the memoir and the man. In time her fingers became stained with the lead of the pencil he had used to write his manuscript, as she devoted herself to understanding who he was, why he disappeared, and what legacy she had inherited. The result of his extraordinary record and her journey to bring his name to light is He Wanted the Moon, an unforgettable testament to the reaches of the mind and the redeeming power of a determined heart.
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A realistic look into the world of mental illness and barbaric ways it was treated in the mid-20th century, but also the story of a brilliant man and his family. The first 50 pages are bit shocking as some of the inhumane treatments are described by the patient himself, but after that I was captivated by this true story.
I really liked this book, it was well written and very informative. It was also a sad story about our history of the treatment of those with mental illness. I am not sure that we have moved very far beyond what Dr. Baird experienced back in the 1940’s and ’50’s.
Not actually the truth about this man’s hospitalization.
Sad but true story of the state of mental health care in the US in the mid 1900s.
Enjoyed this book very much! Great insight into mental illness and the treatments used during this man’s life.
Having a friend that is bi-polar, it showed me what he went through before being diagnoised and obtaining proper medication. What a terrible life people led in the supposed medical facitilites.
Good read. The material was interesting.
This book was so sad to read. A doctor who was intelligent enough to get through med school but slid into insanity step by step, to realize what was happening and using his training to attempt better treatments and even a cure for the condition. It is appauling that out civilization took so long to find better treatments both mentally and physically for such conditions. It took a brave daughter who was persistent enough to gather and read his research and letters to colleages because she wanted to understand who he was and bring to light his struggles inspite of his disability.
I throughly enjoy this account of the life of an intelligent man suffering from bipolar disorder prior to lithium. The daughter found her father’s journal and sorted though medical records to publish the story.
Interesting, enlightening, moving.
Bi-Polar disorder is a horrible illness. The author (and her fathers’) journey is sad and heart wrenching. Before there were more effective treatments, people went through some devastating things trying to get well, most of which made it worse. My heart goes out to all who have had to deal with this, or are still dealing with this illness.
A look at bipolar treatment in the past & one man’s efforts to find the chemical imbalance as he himself dealt with the disease.
Looking back at psychology in the 30s and 40s gives us a glimpse of what a bipolar person had to live thru. For a brilliant person to try every possible means to hang on to reality and some semblance of life and end up with a labotomy is heartbreaking. To read his journals and helps us to gain a glimpse into life in an asylum in that period of time. Heartrenching!
This was an amazing book. KInd of in the “scary but true” category. I found it most interesting because I had a manic depressive grandmother who went through many of the same things during the same time period.
This is a true story of an accomplished doctor with bipolar disorder. It shows the remarkably uninlightened care given to people with mental disorders not so long ago, in the 1940’s. His story is told by his daughter who was kept from knowing him. She did painstaking research to bring his story back to life. Much of the book is in the hand of the doctor himself who wanted to record his experiences partly in order to bring about a more humane treatment for those like himself. He is a good writer, and it is so fortunate that his writings fell into his daughters hands.
A great true story about a daughter who never really knew her father and wrote his legacy. He was a manic depressive and a Harvard Graduate physician. Very interesting .
One of the best books about mental illness that I have ever read.
Interesting but depressing
Sad but eye opener
Excellent read.