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    Hurry Down Sunshine: A Memoir
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    Hurry Down Sunshine: A Memoir
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    Hurry Down Sunshine: A Memoir
    Audiobook6 hours

    Hurry Down Sunshine: A Memoir

    Published by Penguin Random House Audio

    3.5/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Hurry Down Sunshine tells the story of the extraordinary summer when, at the age of fifteen, Michael Greenberg's daughter was struck mad. It begins with Sally's sudden visionary crack-up on the streets of Greenwich Village, and continues, among other places, in the out-of-time world of a Manhattan psychiatric ward during the city's most sweltering months. "I feel like I'm traveling and traveling with nowhere to go back to," Sally says in a burst of lucidity while hurtling away toward some place her father could not dream of or imagine. Hurry Down Sunshine is the chronicle of that journey, and its effect on Sally and those closest to her-her mother and stepmother, her brother and grandmother, and, not least of all, the author himself.

    Among Greenberg's unforgettable gallery of characters are an unconventional psychiatrist, an Orthodox Jewish patient, a manic Classics professor, a movie producer, and a landlord with literary aspirations. Unsentimental, nuanced, and deeply humane, Hurry Down Sunshine holds the listener in a mesmerizing state of suspension between the mundane and the transcendent.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateSep 9, 2008
    ISBN9780739368848
    Unavailable
    Hurry Down Sunshine: A Memoir

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    Reviews for Hurry Down Sunshine

    3.5/5

    180 ratings22 reviews

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    • 5/5
      On July 5, 1996, Michael Greenberg’s 15-year-old daughter Sally had what he calls her first “crack-up,” an acute manic episode that seemed to come out of nowhere, during which she believed that she alone understood the genius within each of us and had been chosen to bring her message to the world. Hurry Down Sunshine is Greenberg’s memoir of that summer, in which it became clear that nothing was as it seemed, and everything was changing.This is the book all those other “I-or-someone-in-my-family-went-crazy” memoirs wish they could be. Greenberg handles the subject matter with sensitivity and insight, weaving in pieces of research and information without becoming pedantic, and he describes Sally’s “crack-up” in all of its absurdity and confusion without belittling or demeaning her or people with mental illness as a group. He is not out to entertain or to shock or to garner pity, and the matter-of-factness with which he tells Sally’s story makes it that much more powerful. His tone is neither too detached nor too emotional, and this makes his voice and his story incredibly accessible.Read my full review at The Book Lady's Blog.
    • 3/5
      This is a memoir from the point of view of a father as he watches his 15-year-old daughter spiral out of control into a manic episode, on her way to a diagnosis of bipolar disorder.I expected to really enjoy, or rather at least relate to this book. I have a good friend who went through her first manic episode around age 20, and I thought it might be refreshing to read about something similar from a parent's point of view. But I really didn't care much for this book. It really wasn't written all that well and the author went off topic a lot. As a memoir, I suppose he's entitled to do that, but based on the book description, I expected there to be more meat to this story. As it was, it was rather dull and only about 60% of the book dealt directly with his daughter's illness. I'm not sure that I've actually read any other books dealing directly with bipolar disorder, but I suspect there are much better choices out there than this one.
    • 4/5
      In the opening pages of his sort-of memoir, Michael Greenberg says it's "something of a sacrilege" to speak of mental illness as anything besides the "chemical brain disease that it on one level is." Nonetheless, in Hurry Down Sunshine, Greenberg takes on the subject from a father's perspective and tells the story of his fifteen-year-old daughter's swift mental decline. Greenberg names the day of his daughter Sally's crack-up: July 5, 1996. He wakes up to discover that Sally isn't home, and when he finds her walking around in the streets, the daughter he knows is gone. Instead, a raging young girl who kicks down trashcans and speaks in abstractions seems to have taken her place.Hurry Down Sunshine is a book that, I think, will draw in readers who have first-hand experience with mental illness, and it will connect with others who are interested in reading about personal and family drama. For the former, this story will read like a testament of survival and perseverance in light of a family tragedy. Like any hopeful father, Greenberg first rationalizes Sally's illness as a teenage spell, but when she lashes out on him-leaving bloody scratch marks on his face, he knows something more serious has taken hold. A therapist advises Greenberg and his wife to take Sally to the emergency room on the grounds of "acute psychosis." They comply, shocked that such a phrase could apply to their daughter.Greenberg signs a consent form for Sally's treatment, and paramedics strap her to a gurney. Sally doesn't fight them but rather "races on about her epiphanies, the piercing nature of light, the lightness of light, the genius in us all." Just like that, Greenberg watches his daughter be whisked away to a psychiatric hospital, where she undergoes intense treatment.For those who have never been inside a psych ward, Greenberg does a good job evoking a place that is deeply sad and curiously exciting at the same time. Family members show up at visiting hours, baffled by what has happened to their loved ones. Patients in various stages of treatment wander the halls, such as Fabulosa, who becomes infatuated with Sally's brother and lifts her shirt as a sign of affection. Doctors eventually pronounce Sally "bipolar 1" and, after lengthy treatment, release her from the hospital. Greenberg and his wife continue to grapple with the fact that their daughter is not healed, nor will she ever be the same. At home, Sally follows a strict health regime, involving a long list of medications, dietary restrictions, and regular doctor's visits. She worries that her friends will shun her and that she won't be able to return to school, as her meds have affected her concentration so much that she struggles to read a single sentence. Alongside Sally's story, Greenberg offers medical and literary perspectives on mental illness, and he introduces a caring cast of characters who rally to Sally's side. He explains the workings of psychotropic drugs, giving an insider's account of their effects after he becomes fed up with Sally's treatment and swallows a "full dose" of her pills. Greenberg also draws upon the story of author James Joyce's dealings with his daughter Lucia, who suffered from mental illness during a time when treatment was much more precarious.In the end, readers will find themselves rooting for Sally and her health. Hurry Down Sunshine elicits a powerfully emotional response, whether or not its author delves deeply into his own emotions. For this family, we want to see Sally's full recovery, but this book offers no happy ending. In doing so, it is truthful in its treatment of mental illness and doesn't shy away from the sad reality that Sally and those who love her are not alone in their struggles.
    • 1/5
      This was poorly written. No back-story for any of these people was given, which made everything very melodramatic. I couldn't force myself to keep reading.
    • 4/5
      Compassionate father tells the story of his 15 YO daughter's manic breakdown. This is very much a family's story. Michael Greenberg gives us an almost daily account of his and Sally's life during her first manic psychotic break and subsequent hospitalization. I'd read half a dozen first-person memoirs by women stricken with bipolar disorder but this was my first memoir written by a family caretaker. He does a great job including stories of his other family members and their parts in his life during the summer of 1996 in Brooklyn when Sally "cracks up." Sally was very fortunate to have such a tight-knit family that loved her and cared for her so much. What I found most interesting about this telling was Greenberg's use of Old Testament characters and stories to illustrate those stricken with madness in the Bible, and how God used those characters, what others thought about them, how they were to be treated and the like. One of the patients at the hospital where Sally is treated is Hasidic and Michael begins to interact with one of the family members. It shows how mental illness is regarded among the ultra orthodox and leads to Michael's biblical illustrations. Very interesting perspectives.This short memoir encompasses events during the summer of 1996 over 160 pages (digital copy). Well done. He shares a lot of family history in this short memoir.
    • 5/5
      The subject was a bit tough to listen to but what an awesome writer Mr. Greenberg is - just to listen to how he writes is sentences describing the neighborhood and the hospital and his brother and daughter was a pleasure. I'm sorry they've had such issues (and our family does too, so I can totally empathize) but, wow, I really enjoyed just listening to a word craftsman. Mr. Greenberg is a good narrator (audiobook) too. Highly recommend just for the quality of writing, though if you have issues with reading about mental breakdowns in their raw form, this might not be the best book for that.
    • 5/5
      scary look at what it means to be bi-polar and to be the support for someone going through a severe depression, beautifully written
    • 3/5
      made going nuts sound like something you can actually climb inside of, as much so that you question your own normalcy. I personally felt so much for the girl that I am clearly not sane, and not so much worried about it either.
    • 5/5
      This book came into my life at a time when I really needed a book like this. We had been dealing with our own frustration and anger at the Canadian mental health system, and the inability to receiver proper care and support for our own teenage daughter.Mr. Greenberg’s words spoke to me and made me feel less alone. I felt his helplessness and understood his confusion. This book was written from a parent’s point of view. It offered an accurate account of what it feels like to be a parent of a child dealing with mental illness. It spoke of the toll mental illness takes on a family and the impact it has on each member as an individual and the family unit as a whole.This book was honest and real and I felt every word of it.
    • 3/5
      A father takes the reader thru the summer when his daughter falls to mental illness. Although I did finish this book, I found it very challenging to do so. I just couldn't get a hold of it in a way that made me 'care'. This is not to say that I am unsympathetic to the hardship of mental illness, just that the writing style was just to impersonal leaving me unconnected. Maybe it's because I have not had to go thru this with any of my family members but..I don't think that's it. I've read alot of these types of books and been brought to tears, laughed with the authors joys that are found within all the chaos and even became angry at the system for what they have gone thru. This book just DID NOT bring me there. As always though, I commend the author for getting it out in words to the world. Doing so has it's own healing power and in the end that's what it's all about. So thumbs up to the author..thumbs down to the book.
    • 5/5
      I have experienced this with my husband. It is a very realistic account of "the system".
    • 5/5
      A father's memoir of the summer his daughter had a "crack-up," the gripping story describes her hospitalization, the ongoing treatment back to "normal," and how everyone's reacting and coping in different ways. The best part is the family history revealed through such a crisis, the writing is honest and unvarnished.
    • 4/5
      An interesting recounting of a traumatic story through the eyes of a father. But as I finished it, I couldn't help but think that the most fascinating aspects the girl's struggle with a bipolar disorder likely occurred in the years following her diagnosis. I wish Greenberg had opted to pen a more streamlined version of the early struggles, then spent the second half of the book tracing his daughter's later challenges.
    • 4/5
      Beautifully written account of the author's sudden onset of mania and her slow recovery, plus her lifelong struggle (so far) with recurrent flare-ups. Great New York atmosphere and a good portrait as well of the author's relationship with his mentally ill brother, his parents and his ex-wife and fiancee. A page-turner and a clear, honest look at this very difficult problem.
    • 3/5
      The author's experience of his 15-year-old daughter's mental breakdown and diagnosis of bi-polar disorder was not an easy read for this mother of three, but was well done and could have been much more depressing. It was honest and open and I enjoyed the discussions of the relationships between the author's current wife, his daughter's mother and her husband, and his son. Interesting read.
    • 3/5
      The daughter's illness came out of a greater matrix of family mental illness than I expected. Good, as far as it went, in describing the experience of the daughter, but a lot more about the author's reaction (understandably).
    • 4/5
      A father's perspective of the summer when his daughter experienced her first mania eposide at 15. The memoir was an easy read and did not get on a soap box about mental illness, medication or hospitalization.
    • 4/5
      Wonderful book. I have a family member that is manic depressive and this was a wonderful window into the lives of everyone affected by diseases like this in families. I highly recommend this to book to everyone I know.
    • 4/5
      We're all used to the stories of mental illness told from the inside, but the experience of caretakers is put forward less frequently. In Hurry Down Sunshine, Michael Greenberg describes his daughter Sally's sudden onset of psychotic behavior one summer and the family's attempts to deal with the experience.The publisher's blurb for this book is somewhat misleading—few of the characters outside of Greenberg's family are described with any depth. That's not a drawback, however, for what he is describing is an intensely familial process. And process it is. Greenberg works hard to make his writing as transparent as possible so that the experience can unfold on its own terms. The book is refreshingly free from anguish or drawn-out recriminations, even as Greenberg mercilessly describes behavior that, on his part, at one point descends to domestic violence.Instead, the reader is given the essentials of the experience—the fearful neighbors, the visits to the hospital, the complex intra-familial negotiations—and allowed to interpret them. Greenberg mentions his financial difficulties and lack of insurance but makes them, too, only another piece of the unfolding scene without allowing them to take over, even though anyone who has been in a similar situation can imagine how they must have taken over his concern at this point.This tactic may seem distancing to some readers, but it also makes Greenberg's narrative engrossing, allowing us to see the full barrage of mundane details that attends such a traumatic event while still maintaining a tight focus on the beautiful, erratic Sally, whose pain and confusion are described in clear, heartbreaking detail.
    • 5/5
      This honest, compelling memoir is the story of one father's understanding of his 15-year-old daughter's "crack-up". Micheal Greenberg's love and admiration for his daughter, Sally, shine through, even as he struggles to understand her and come to her rescue. Greenberg's very straightforward writing style strengthens this book's wrenching impact; the reader has a sense of watching Sally's madness unfold and shares Greenberg's frustration with the medical world's efforts to help her. He shows us Sally's fear of losing herself, her unique outlook on the world, and how that impacts her willingness to accept treatment. As Sally's adoring father, Greenberg also wants her to maintain her self, an impulse that sometimes comes into conflict with managing her mental illness. Throughout this memoir the reader never looses the sense of this as a father's story of love and hope for his intelligent, creative, beautiful daughter.
    • 4/5
      In the summer of 1996 the author’s fifteen year old daughter, Sally, experiences a major psychotic episode and he makes the hard decision to hospitalize her. While Sally is struggling through her psychosis in the hospital her whole family comes together to deal with the questions of why this happened and where to go from here. Just bringing her home is not the end of the line however, as there are still issues with stabilizing drug levels, getting Sally to the point where she can return to school, and the threat of a potential relapse.This gritty memoir chronicles that single episode from onset to remission and the effect it had not only on Sally but on all those who are close to her. The fact that this is a work of non-fiction brings a real sense of poignancy to the narrative that is usually missing from similar fictional renderings, particularly as Sally begins to emerge from her episode and becomes acutely aware of how her mid-psychosis actions might have been viewed by her friends and neighbors.
    • 4/5
      This is a well-written memoir of the summer when, seemingly overnight, the author's fifteen-year-old daughter is "struck mad." I thought this was an excellent, honest account of the father's struggle to navigate this, for him, uncharted territory of mental illness. While I didn't necessarily agree with all of his choices, and I would have liked to know more about the families' medical histories, I found myself moved by this family's response to a diagnosis and treatment of mental illness, a treatable, but incurable, disease.