SCATTERSHOT Hardback - 2008

by Lovelace, David

The Glass Castle meets An Unquiet Mind in a mesmerizing, lovingmemoir about growing up in a family plagued by bipolar disorder.

Four out of the five people in poet David Lovelace's immediate familyhave experienced bipolar disorder including David himself. Hisrelationship with the disease began with his artist mother's severedepressions during his boyhood in the 1960s and continued throughdecades of his preacher father's increasingly eccentric behavior. Thefamily's battle with the disorder reached its apex in 1986, the year thathis father, his brother, and David himself were all committed in quicksuccession. Only his sister has escaped unscathed.

Scattershot is Lovelace's poignant, humorous, and vivid account of thedisease's effects on his family, and his gripping exploits as he spenthis life running from and finally learning to embrace the madnessimprinted on his genes. Scattershot explores the powerful connectionsbetween fundamentalist religious belief and mental illness, illuminatedby David's strange and fantastic childhood in church camps and parishresidences.

A coming-of-age story punctuated by a series of truly harrowing experiences,this devastating and empathetic portrait of the Lovelace familystrips away the shame associated with bipolar disorder and celebratesthe profound creative gifts that come with it.