Scattershot: My Bipolar Family

It just havent kept me interested. Moves to slow for me. A good story line though.

While Scattershot focuses on the heartbreaking story of a family struggling with Bipolar disorder, this is not some pity piece - Lovelace tells the story with sensitivity but no sugar coat, showing everyone's weaknesses and heroism. I feel like I started to understand the reality of being "crazy" at times and knowing it, along with the strange allure of the manic state. Told with humor and a poet's touch, Scattershot is readable - as well as sad, happy, and revealing.

Unlike most other memoirs about mental illness, Scattershot isn't a complete downer. You finish with hope and laugh quite a bit along the way. I didn't end the book and feel exhausted or sad. I could relate to many of the experiences, since only a few were horrific ordeals. This is a fast, fun and sometimes harrowing read! If you read the opening chapter, you'll be hooked. As enjoyable as this is, it still chronicles the dissolution of of an entire family to a misunderstood mental illness.

David Lovelace does an extraordinary job detailing the experience of growing up in bipolar family. With a poet's sensitivity, a diarist's power of recollection and with a fair amount of humor and love, Lovelace has created a memoir of soaring beauty. It's rare to find a memoir written with such compassion for those around him. Usually there's a lot of victimization and finger-pointing, but Lovelace tackles his family's story with such honesty and appreciation for his family that you can't help but cheer for them along the way.

I heard the author speak on NPR, picked up the book, and read it straight through. Lovelace is a stunning writer with a stunning story to tell. Yes, it's a memoir about a bipolar family, but finally it's about finding balance, a way to live, whether it's through medication or insight or understanding or forgiveness and gratitude.

Few books I have read recently have made me want to stay home from work so I can continue reading. Scattershot was this kind of book. I read it cover to cover in 2 days and loved it - wishing there was more. Lovelace successfully takes one through the struggles that bipolar disorder wrecks on ones life. But rather than being a dark, depressing read, Lovelace is able to convey such difficulties with quick, sharp humor and intense humility and humanity. Scattershot, a memoir that reads somewhat like David Sedaris, is filled with hilarious observations on human behavior. Of course, the author breaks with Sedaris in his ability to honestly convey the difficult daily struggle that living with such a disease takes on friendship, family, and life goals. A wonderful read that I cannot recommend more.