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Quitting the Nairobi Trio (thing)
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(
thing
)
by
junkpile
Sat Aug 26 2000 at 0:58:45
copyright 2000
Jim Knipfel
,
J. P. Tarcher
. 288 pages. memoir.
Like
The Bell Jar
, but with a guy.
I'm tempted to say "it's ever so much more than that," and it is, but
at heart it's the same story
. Person gets institutionalized for
being troubled and causing trouble
. Person does not fit in among chairthrowers and napkineaters. How to convince those in charge to sign release papers? Eventually Knipfel is
let loose on the world again
, but not before he shows you some
unexpected aspects of the hospital
and the people there.
Funnier than Plath's novel or
Girl, Interrupted
, this book is
almost
a celebration of life on the inside. Worth reading if only for the part where Knipfel figures out
what has and has not been wrong with him
during his 6-month stay in the hospital. In a few pages he gives you his problems, his tangles,
his whole brain
, and
the things he knows as true
, as if saying
I do not know quite how to analyze this thing, but now I know what it is, I can encompass this, I can go back to my life now.
It's a good book. It will make you want to go for a walk, not only just to feel lucky and special not to be locked up in a psychiatric ward, but to remind yourself how easy it can be to enjoy the easy good things.
Alice without opening her eyes says You have to stop crying you are shaking the bed.
Girl, Interrupted
The Bell Jar
slackjaw
This heart that lives in winter
December 11, 2000
The Nairobi Trio
being close to another person
In your heart you know it's flat
The Flying Hospital