Mount Misery

"Mount Misery" was a facility to which unruly spouses and progeny might be constrained pending divorce or other life shaping proceedings. All too true, and, after all these years, I finally figured out that Schlomo was Freud's middle name.

I loved the House of God, Shem's first novel, when it was first published. I grew up in a medical family and am never at a loss for words about the medical industry. Nor am I at a loss for words when it comes to the mental health field, either, having good friends and relatives in that field, as well. I did find the style of Mount Misery a bit disappointing. However, the story it tells is very realistic. The field has made great progress in the last 20 or 30 years - this book was published only about 10 years ago, and the story it tells is as fresh as the day it was written. Shem, of course, is a pen name for a real-life doctor author, Stephen Joseph Bergman, MD. On a blog I found last year, Bergman wrote in an interview that mental health field critics claim that "Mount Misery" would not be true today. Bergman retorted: Walk around McLean Hospital, and see how the patients are talking about it. And see what is going on in the mental health field. McLean Hospital, of course, is the Harvard Pyschiatric institution in Massachusetts, and is the origin of Mount Misery. One of the copy-editors, in fact, accidentally left a reference to McLean in the copy. An article in the Boston Globe with Bergman at the time of the book's publication, quoted Bergman stating that these psychiatric disorders are highly treatable, and that the field is doing a terrible job. We need more enlightened physicians and psychiatrists like Bergman.

In sharp contrast to this books older and more famous brother "The house of God" this one is much less hilarious and much more thought provoking and disturbing. Dr Baschs catastrophic and nearly fatal first year of residency in a prestigious psychiatric institute is depicted in all its gloomy details. The characters in this book are quite extreme each in its own positive or negative way and shems witty and clever description of them (even for the better ones) is merciless. a word of warning - don't get to attached to any of the characters, Shem has a tendency to eliminate some of them in various stages of the book. I am a medical student, and I first read this book In my first year after reading the "House of God" - it was mildly amusing. However, I reread it this year (my fifth) after doing my rotation in a psychiatric hospital and this book is right on target. It made me think very hard about the patients, the doctors and all that's in between. A must book for everyone who is interested in medicine, psychiatry or just plain human nature.

Roy Basch, MD, is back! For any doctor or medical student, who at one time or another read "The House of God" and learned the LAWS by heart (most of them probably even use them on a regular basis!), this is a long awaited sequel. Having decided to leave internal medicine behind and to become a psychiatrist, Basch lives through his first year as a resident at a prestigious mental institution called Mount Misery, only to find out that the name is more than just metaphorical. He discovers, that it is sometimes hard to tell the patients from their therapists, and that normal can be a question of health insurance. It is an exciting, very funny, and sometimes even frightening novel about modern psychiatry. In "House of God" the reader wondered how much of the story was satirical and just how much was true. And if you're a physician, you will know that everything in it is real. Having read "Mount Misery", you will beg your therapist to tell you that it is all just a joke. But then again, maybe you are a shrink yourself and know better... A definite must for patients and doctors.

Shem's new book is not what I expected. What I basically thought I'd get was a mere follow up to "The House of God", his 15 year old outstanding novel about medicine and internships. Mount Misery describes one year of residency training in a psychiatric hospital. While not remotely as funny as "House of God" this piece of work is more mature and goes much deeper. Shem doesn't leave too much good on psychoanalysis and Freud. This book really got to me and will keep me thinking for a while. Another masterpiece of medical novels