Erin O'Riordan writes smart, whimsical erotica. Her erotic romance novel trilogy, Pagan Spirits, is now available. With her husband, she also writes crime novels. Visit her home page at ko-fi.com.
It was August 2010 when I read and reviewed Kenneth Weene's scary-good mostly-fiction literary creeper Memoirs From the Asylum. It's especially eerie when, like me, you've worked in the mental health profession.
Now you can view the book trailer, courtesy of YouTube and Book Candy Studios:
[2024 Update: The video is no longer available on YouTube.]
Some day, I will figure out how to get Blogger to stop cutting off the right-hand edges of images I embed. I can write, I can edit, I can review books, but I have no more room in my brain for technical geek stuff other than the most basic HTML. You can view the unchopped video HERE.
Joseph "J.C." Knudson is an author on a mission to educate the world's population about understanding and accepting people who are gay. His first book, a memoir, is called Living the Difference (2010, Espresso House Publishing). Its subtitle is "An Enlightening Story Revealed For People of All Ages, Straight or Gay."
Editorial reviews of Knudson's book call Living the Difference "a fascinating journey no gay author has been able to capture to date," "conquering the final frontier of bigotry and ignorance," and "filled with love, hate, joy, sorrow and much more."
Living the Difference also turned up on Vonnie Faroqui's book blog, Writers in the Sky. Faroquai calls the memoir "remarkably under-sensationalized," praising Knudson's honest storytelling style that leaves the reader to draw his or her own conclusions. She mentions how Living the Difference lifts the curtain on the so-called "gay lifestyle," revealing a human portrait that resonates regardless of gender or sexual orientation. It's a portrait of success, of meaning, and of hope.
From Faroquai's description, Living the Difference seems to be an important resource for young gay men living with fear, shame or self-loathing; or for anyone coming to terms with a friend or family member's coming out. Knudson, it seems, told his story not to shock, offend or "convert" anyone, but simply to lay out a roadmap for acceptance. The book lights a candle against the darkness of ignorance.
The podcast of J.C.'s recent interview with Vonnie Faroqui can be found here. To learn more about J.C. Knudson, find him on Facebook, Twitter or Fabulis.
Chances are, you have a family member or an acquaintance who's been affected by a major mental illness. For many people, mental illnesses are very treatable. They will either recover or learn to manage their episodes of illness. For others, a mental illness does not respond to treatment and living in a therapeutic setting becomes an option. Of those whose illness leads to hospitalization, some are lucky enough to be able to afford private care. For others, there's the state hospital.
As Alice famously said to the Cheshire Cat, "I don't want to go among mad people," and any examination of the lives and thoughts of those living in the state hospital will not be a walk in the garden. Although 'Memoirs From the Asylum' by Kenneth Weene is fictional, those of us who have mentally ill friends and relatives or who have worked in mental health care settings will find it unsettlingly real.
Readers will no doubt find this book fascinating. It's like what medieval Christians used to call "the abominable fancy:" the saved glimpsing the suffering of those in Hell. The trouble is, as Weene's book makes clear, the line between the "sane" and the "insane" is a fine one. The "insane" are institutionalized by their own volition, but can declare "the vacation's over" and walk out to rejoin society at any moment. The staff are just as capable of abnormal thoughts and irrational behavior as the patients. It reminds me of a joke from an early season of 'The Simpsons,' when Homer found himself committed and asked the doctors how they could tell who was sane and who was insane. Simple, they tell him: everyone who's insane has his/her hand stamped "INSANE."
'Memoirs From the Asylum' is, at times, funny, sometimes unsettling, but largely tragic. It's a powerful book, but one worth reading. It's a plea for compassion and a disorganized rant as careening as the Jimi Hendrix solos that a patient named Jamul endlessly plays on his invisible guitar.
Funny thing about that: thanks to the Freedom of Information Act, the Navy record of the real Jimi Hendrix is now public, and it reveals he was once thought to have a mental illness. The real Hendrix seemed to be unable to concentrate on any work other than writing songs and playing his guitar! Perhaps Jamul was a misunderstood genius. Within the pages of 'Memoirs of the Asylum,' anything is possible.
