My Lobotomy : A Memoir
Overview
Commentary
A spirited child with a cruel stepmother, Howard Dully was brought to six psychiatrists to address his disruptive nature. They all said he was perfectly normal, and four of them considered his stepmother to be the true problem. The seventh doctor was Walter Freeman, the medical zealot responsible for the boom in the popularity of lobotomies, a man who drove his "lobotomobile" across the country demonstrating the technique (performed by pounding an ice-pick through the back of a patients eye-socket) in mental facilities. And so, at the age of 12 Dully was given a transorbital lobotomy, an act that made him feel cast out of society, a kind of "Frankenstein." In his tragic memoir, Dully describes the pain of never knowing if his personal problems were a result of his unloving family, his surgical operation, or his own personality. Regardless, he drifted from institution to institution, often spiraling into drugs and alcohol, until finally, in San Diego he found love and began to rebuild his mangled life.
Publisher's Notes
The author describes his victimization at the hands of Dr. Walter Freeman, who popularized the transorbital lobotomy and who performed the procedure on the author at the age of twelve; the abandoment by his family; his experiences with institutions, jail, homelessness, and alcoholism; and his courageous determination to find out why he was forced to undergo a lobotomy. 60,000 first printing.
Synopses
At twelve, Howard Dully was guilty of the same crimes as other boys his age: he was moody, messy, rambunctious, and perpetually at odds with his parents. Yet somehow, this normal boy became one of the youngest people on whom Dr. Walter Freeman performed his barbaric transorbital--or ice pick--lobotomy. Abandoned by his family within a year of the surgery, Howard spent his teen years in mental institutions, his twenties in jail, and his thirties in a bottle. It wasn't until his forties that Howard began to pull his life together. But he still struggled with one question: Why? Through his research, Howard met other lobotomy patients and their families, talked with one of Freeman's sons about his father's controversial life's work, and confronted his own father about his complicity. And, in the doctor's files, he finally came face to face with the truth.--From publisher description.
Reviews
"[O]ne of the saddest stories youll ever read."
William Grimes
Full Details
| Author | |
| Format | Hardcover |
| ISBN | 9780307381262 |
| List Price | $24.95 |
| Publisher | |
| Publication Date | 09/04/2007 |
| Fiction/Non-Fiction | |
| Release Status | In Print |
| Language | |
| Pages | 272 |
| Measurements | Weight: 0.9 Pounds |
| Height: 8.5 Inches |
| Length: 5.5 Inches |
| Thickness: 1 Inches |
Inc. For personal non-commercial use only. All rights reserved.
