| Clea Simon, the daughter and third child of a Long Island doctor and his artist wife, grew up in the shadow of two older siblings who suffered from mental illness. Her brother eventually committed suicide, her sister was in and out of institutions and eventually hid from the family. Simon describes the tremendous pressures on her as "the normal one," how the strange dynamics of her family affected her too, even as she made it to and through her father's alma mater of Harvard, and developed a career as a rock critic and free-lance writer. She also interviewed many individuals who grew up in similar circumstances and surveys the scanty research about families as a whole and the effects of mentally ill people upon their siblings. This is a brave and thoughtful book. | ||
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Plot & Themes Phys disability/mental struggle? Yes Struggle with - mental illness Period of greatest activity? - 1950+ Subject of Biography Gender - Female Profession/status: Ethnicity - Jew Nationality - American Setting How much descriptions of surroundings? - 2 () United States Yes The US: - Northeast Century: - 1960's-1970's Writing Style Book makes you feel? - concerned Graphic sex in book? Yes What kind of sex: - actual description of hetero sex Pictures/Illustrations? - None How much dialogue in bio? - significantly more descript than dialog |
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