Crazy, Pete Earley
Crazy, Pete Earley
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Crazy
A Father's Search Through America's Mental Health Madness

Author: Pete Earley

Narrator: Michael Prichard

Unabridged: 11 hr 46 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 07/04/2006


Synopsis

Pete Earley had no idea. He'd been a journalist for over thirty years, and the author of several award-winning—even bestselling—nonfiction books about crime and punishment and society. Yet he'd always been on the outside looking in. He had no idea what it was like to be on the inside looking out until his son, Mike, was declared mentally ill, and Earley was thrown headlong into the maze of contradictions, disparities, and catch-22s that is America's mental health system.

The more Earley dug, the more he uncovered the bigger picture: Our nation's prisons have become our new mental hospitals. Crazy tells two stories. The first is his son's. The second describes what Earley learned during a yearlong investigation inside the Miami-Dade County jail, where he was given complete, unrestricted access. There, and in the surrounding community, he shadowed inmates and patients; interviewed correctional officers, public defenders, prosecutors, judges, mental-health professionals, and the police; talked with parents, siblings, and spouses; consulted historians, civil rights lawyers, and legislators.

The result is both a remarkable piece of investigative journalism, and a wake-up call—a portrait that could serve as a snapshot of any community in America.

About Pete Earley

Pete Earley is a mental health advocate, journalist, and New York Times bestselling author of fiction and nonfiction books, including The Hot House: Life Inside Leavenworth Prison and the 2007 Pulitzer Prize finalist Crazy: A Father's Search Through America's Mental Health Madness. A former Washington Post reporter, Earley has appeared five times before the U.S. Congress to testify about the need for mental health reform, has spoken in forty-nine states, and addressed legislators in four foreign countries. He serves on the board of the Corporation for Supportive Housing, which finances projects to eliminate homelessness. He writes regularly for USA Today and the Washington Post about mental health issues.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Barbara

4.5 stars I recently read and reviewed a book similar to this one - about America's incarceration of large numbers of mentally ill individuals. Insane: America's Criminal Treatment of Mental Illness by Alisa Roth. My review: [URL not allowed] In this book, 'Crazy: A Father's Sea......more

Goodreads review by Tom

For such a keenly personal story, Earley's writing is very dry and not compelling. He is first and foremost a journalist so maybe that's to be expected. When I heard of this title, I didn't know it presented two dovetailing stories: one family's struggle to treat a bipolar son, and the full-scale in......more

Goodreads review by Bob

Contrary to a negative review you might read at "goodreads," if you have anyone close to you suffering with mental illness, I would highly recommend this book. It was recommended to me by a police officer who was greatly helped in thinking through this tragic issue. And the author, Pete Early is not......more

Goodreads review by Rebecca

As a psychiatrist reading this book, I feel ashamed. I'm ashamed I can't help people because the laws prevent it, and ashamed I have to tell family members that I can do nothing for their loved one who is an adult and has the right to refuse treatment that could treat his or her illness. That's when......more