Thought this was a great book that showed the confusing and crazy times in the life of Bob, a relative of the author. A revised autobiography, told as a revised biography of Bob by his relative -- every other chapter being a dive into verifying events by Sandy, research, hearing from others about how true Bob's memory was, etc. -- of a man's struggles as both a teen and adult with the mental health system.

Reality is a weird, funky thing. Many of the stories he tells seem unreal, but turn out to have definitely happened. I think it was great that Sandy did so much investigation into understanding how "schizophrenia" is perceived, it's history, psychiatric survivors, families, patients, victims, critics, and more. A well-detailed look at things, that I think people could really benefit from reading.

An interesting aside is that, at one point, Bob has the following experience:

In the sky, he could make out some stars.
He looked down at his dog, who sat patiently by.
He looked again at the sky. Something had caught his eye.
An airplane?
He looked and--there!--he saw it again.
He couldn't tell what it was, but it was moving.
He kept staring, trying to decide whether his eyes were playing tricks on him, but the more he focused on it, the more he was certain there was something there, something blocking out just the stars at first, and then a stand of clouds, SOME DARK SHADOW OF SOME CRAFT:
It was coming closer.
Couldn't be an airplane.
Bob squinted and as he did a ray of energy hit him in the head, throwing him onto the dust.
He blacked out.

This reminds me of Phillip K. Dick, as he wrote a fictionalized hash-up of his own personal experiences (the VALIS trilogy) relating to a pink beam he believed had been shot at his head from space (in real life, in 1974). He wrote a collection of notes and theories that ended up posthumously compiled into a book called "The Exegesis of Phillip K. Dick." Strange stuff. He was also regarded by people to have had schizophrenia. Just an unrelated side note!

I would definitely recommend this book to those unfamiliar with what the impact of a schizophrenia diagnosis can have on the life of an individual in Western society. A well-balanced look at the struggles of the mind, and also the struggles of those wrapped up in the system. Especially involuntary treatment. The chapter "You Can Call It Anything" (pg. 93 - 101) is a great section on its own, taking a look into what something like "psychotic paranoid schizophrenia" even means.