It's mental!

So I am in a reading group. Our most recent read dealt with the topic of mental illness. I thought it was an interesting read. It certainly made for a good discussion. The book is
"72 hour Hold" by Bebe Moore Campbell.

There was some humor that was dispersed throughout. But the main focus was on how a single mother was dealing with her bipolar 18-year-old daughter. The difficulties of a father in denial that his daughter is/was mentally ill and trying to get help for a daughter through a government system that truly requires patience.

Some of the topics that we discussed were:

• the various mental illnesses: bipolar; manic depressive; schizophrenia
• other addictions: alcoholism, drug abuse
• alternatives to treatment for mental illness
• was the topic too close to the author? (we'd heard that the book was loosely based on her life with her daughter)

My reading group has a tendency to want to 'cast' the book for the big screen (you know, first the book, then the movie...?). But we did NOT 'cast' the book this time around. Though the book could potentially be a really good movie.

Oh, and we did note how the paperback edition has the urban fiction look ... I am more than a little bit disgusted with the urban fiction genre. I wish it would go away. I know that no one ever said 'go away' the the Harlem Renaissance (and you can curse me as I am cursing myself for putting urban fiction and Harlem Renaissance in the same sentence). My point is, one is not the other, and I can banish it if I want to! And no, I am not happy that more young people are reading because of urban fiction ...

I think I read most of the book, but I did end up getting it on cd from the library. I finished listening to the book about ten minutes prior to the meeting. Who came up with the idea of audiobooks? Love that ... Radiogirl loves that!