Jessie Close

I've had the pleasure of hearing Jessie Close speak at a mental health summit some years ago, shortly after the launch of Bring Change 2 Mind, the non-profit co-founded by Jessie and Glenn Close to fight stigma attached to those with mental illness. I respect the advocacy work they're doing, and I admire Jessie for sharing her story of living with bipolar disorder. Hearing her speak about her rocky life, which included several husbands and houses and moves across country and across the world, and her path to managing her health after receiving her bipolar diagnosis, was really eye-opening to me as someone who at the time knew little about the illness. So when I heard that she had written a book about her experiences, I was looking forward to picking up a copy.

That said, I struggled a bit to finish the book. This memoir read more like an autobiography, starting with her recounting her first memories as well as outlining her family history and then moving very linearly through her life up until about 2009. It just started off really slow for me, and it wasn't until she starting talking about her adult life (around page 100) that I felt invested enough to finish reading. By the end, though, I realized the affect of including lots of family history--despite her failed marriages and a distant relationship with her father, Jessie's own children and her sister were key to her well-being.

There were a few short chapters throughout the book that gave the perspective of Glenn Close, Jessie's older sister. Those chapters didn't add much to the overall story, except to demonstrate that, indeed, it's difficult to see a beloved sister struggle with mental health. I suspect that tying in Glenn and including her face on the book cover is supposed to help catch the attention of potential readers. And that's not necessarily a bad thing.

I would suggest this book to those who are interested in mental health (specifically what it's like to be diagnosed with bipolar), to those who like reading about other's path to self-discovery (I was reminded a bit of Eat, Pray, Love while reading this--except with less eating and praying and more drinking and self-harming), or to those who like books with a celebrity tie-in.

A link to Bring Change 2 Mind: http://bringchange2mind.org/

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced reading e-copy.… (altro)

Mental illness is not a stigma.

I always find it really hard to rate a book that talks so openly about the struggles that the author has lived with, yet that I didn't consider particularly well written. In this case the award winning writer, Pete Earley was involved, so there really wasn't any excuse for this being so slow to get going.
The early stages of the book were far too much back-story of parents, grandparents and even great-grandparents. It didn't keep my interest and I couldn't remember them all anyway. I would have preferred a family tree, possibly accompanied by a list with a little more detail, something that could be referred back to. (And at the FRONT of the book, not the back, where Kindle readers only find it when they finish reading!)

After the first quarter, the book began to improve; there started to be mention of the mental illness that I had read the book to learn about. I appreciate that Jesse Close did not get a diagnosis until she was in her fifties, so I understand the lack of explanation at that time in her story, but it was a bit alienating for me, as a reader.
My real involvement with the book began when her son, Calen started to show symptoms of mental illness and Jesse realised how his behaviour mirrored her own.

Jesse's childhood spent with a nanny, so her parents could dedicate all their time to a religious cult, was heartbreaking. She and her siblings had to live with the fact that they were second in importance for their own parents. Even once Dr and Mrs Close had broken away from the cult, her father was still a distant figure in her life, always putting his patients before his family. Although they spent a lot of their time apart, the siblings supported one another and became very close.

The main reason for the publication of the book is to publicise the issue of mental health and to attempt to reduce the stigma attached to the condition. To this end, Jesse and her family, including actress Glenn Close, have done a marvelous job of presenting their story from the heart. Although I could not rate the book as highly as I would have liked, I wish them all the best in their fight for recognition of the disease and acceptance of those who suffer from it as valid human beings.… (altro)