2009 WINNER of the L.L. Winship/PEN NEW ENGLAND AWARD

An "intense and haunting memoir . . . While Tracey searches the Ireland of his ancestors for clues, he also struggles with demons of his own in a prose that's as lyrical as it is honest."

PEN Judge Joe Mackall

 

SLATE magazine:  "Touching and troubling . . . one of the best books of 2008"

 

2009 Ken Book Award for making "an outstanding literary contribution to the understanding of mental illness." - National Alliance on Mental Illness

 Reviews/Press

Nice review in Washington Post

Interview on NPR'S Talk of the Nation

Feature, photo montage at MSNBC dot com

Feature in The Boston Globe

My sisters - the Polaroid models - in USA Today

Beyond Blue: A Spiritual Journey to Mental Health

Bookslut interview at bookslut.com

Feature in Irish Echo

 

Op-Ed in Providence Journal

 

Interview in Providence Examiner 

 

 

Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz     

"SORROW AND SURRENDER, CRUCIALLY INTERTWINED, bring meaning to the puzzle of mental illness." - Nell Casey, The Washington Post

"Tracey's depictions. . . . ARE PERHAPS SOME OF THE MOST REALISTIC EVERY COMMITTED TO PAPER." - Cherie Parker, Minneapolis Star Tribune

"A SINCERE MEMOIR OF GRIEF AND HOPE that honors Irish folklore while giving modern medicine its due." - Kirkus Reviews

"A sometimes rollicking, always absorbing road story: JACK KEROUAC MEETS FRANK McCOURT." - Christina Gombar, bookslut.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"A FASCINATING YET DISTURBING PASTICHE . . . held together with gritty hope." William Hicks, Booklover's Blog

"A BRILLIANT MEDITATION on Irish people's vexed relationship with the mind and its matters." - Cahir O'Doherty, The Irish Voice

" . . a glimpse inside a FRAGILE, DARK-HUMORED, YET HOPEFUL, SOUL." The LitLife

"The combination of travelogue with personal story is POWERFUL AND MOVING."  - Square Books, Oxford, Mississippi

"Fascinating, unforgettable, and compelling." - The Galveston County Daily News

Indie Bookshop Favorite . . . 

Named to the Indie Next List of Great Reads From Booksellers You Trust. Save America -- support your local indie! indiebound.org . .

Here's what they had to say: The heartbreaking journey of a man trying to make sense of the curse of schizophrenia that has haunted his family for generations. This fascinating book is part memoir, part travel writing, with Irish history and scientific observations sprinkled liberally throughout. I was spellbound.  Karen M. Frank, Northshire Bookstore

2008-09 Readings

Politics & Prose, Washington, D.C, 1 pm, Sept.28

Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, Mass., Nov. 16

KGB Bar & Literary Salon, 7 pm, NYC, March 11

Harvard Coop Bookstore, Cambridge, Mass, 7 pm, March 16

Longfellow Books, Portland, Maine, 7 pm, March 20

Books on the Square in Wayland Square, Providence, Rhode Island, 7 pm, April 3

Cornerstone Books, Salem, Mass., 3 pm, April 4

Truro Public Library, Truro Beach, Cape Cod, April 6

Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts Mental Health Center, Boston, 12 noon, April 8

Four Stories Literary Salon at the Enormous Room in Cambridge, Mass., on April 13 from 7 to 9 pm (dubbed Boston's hottest reading series, with music kicking off at 6.)

YALE CLUB, New York, National Alliance on Mental Illness, May 14

Boston Public Library, 6 to 8 pm, Boylston Street, Boston

Barnes & Noble, North Charleston, South Carolina, 5 to 7 pm, May 22

The Vermont Bookshop, 7 pm, May 28

Book Cellar, Brattleboro, Vermont, May 30

River Run Bookstore, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 7 pm, June 3

Front Street Bookshop, Scituate, Mass., 1 pm, June 7

Scarborough Public Library, Scarborough, Maine, June 11

Inkwell Bookstore, Falmouth, Mass., 4 pm, June 13

Nantucket Atheneum/Nantucket Bookworks, Nantucket Island, 7 pm, June 15

Porter Square Books, Cambridge, Mass., 7 pm, June 16

Ocean State Summer Writing Conference, Kingston, Rhode Island, Panel Discussion, June 20

Thomas Crane Public Library, Quincy, Mass., 7 pm, June 24

Newtonville Books, Newton, Mass., 7 pm, June 25

Nahant Public Library, Nahant, Mass.,  3 pm, June 28

Northshire Bookstore, Manchester Center, Vermont, 7 pm, July 9

McLean Hospital Bipolar and Depression Support Group, 7 pm, Aug. 12

Davis Square Library, Somerville, Mass., 7 pm, Oct. 5

Boston Public Library, Adams Street Branch, Dorchester, Mass., 6 pm, February 24

Irish American Heritage Center, Chicago, 2 pm March 7

Stalking Irish Madness may be ordered from these online retailers.

• Random House
• Amazon
• Barnes & Noble
• Tattered Cover
  

Patrick Tracey
Email the Author