The Naked Lady Who Stood on Her Head by Gary Small, M.D. and Gigi Vorgan

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  • Hardcover: 288 pages
  • Publisher: William Morrow; 1 edition (September 28, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0061803782
  • ISBN-13: 978-0061803789

Dr. Gary Smalls is husband to Gigi Vorgan and a distinguished psychiatrist and researcher.  After thirty years of practice and research on the human brain, he has written a book about his most intriguing and bizarre cases.  He begins with the beginning of his career as a shift doctor in a Boston hospital and takes us through his career ending in California.  Whether it's the naked lady who stood on her head, a shrinking penis or hysterical blindness, the cases are always interesting and sometimes downright funny...proof that truth really is stranger than fiction.  His career comes full circle when his mentor becomes his patient and he realizes that anyone can experience psychiatric issues.

Never fear, Dr. Smalls does not violate any patient confidentiality rules, always changing pertinent information to avoid having his patients recognized.  The book is well-written, witty and informative, always reminding us that our eccentricities are what makes us human.


The authors also have a blog with a great deal of useful information about a variety of mental health subjects.  You can find it HERE.


About the authors:

Dr. Gary Small is a professor of psychiatry and director of the UCLA Center on Aging at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior. His research, supported by the National Institute of Health, has made headlines in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and USA Today. Scientific American magazine named him one of the world’s leading innovators in science and technology. Dr. Small lectures throughout the world and frequently appears on The Today Show, Good Morning American, PBS, and CNN. He has written five books, including The New York Times best seller, The Memory Bible.


Gigi Vorgan wrote, produced, and appeared in numerous feature films and television projects before teaming up with her husband, Dr. Gary Small, to co-write The Memory Bible, The Memory Prescription, The Longevity Bible, iBrain, and The Naked Lady Who Stood on Her Head. She lives in Los Angeles with Dr. Small and their two children.

American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot by Craig Ferguson

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: It Books; 1 edition (May 11, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061998494
• ISBN-13: 978-0061998492

I just love Craig Ferguson...the accent, the crazy antics, the naughty little boy quality.  I DVR The Late, Late Show every night so I don't have to stay up half the night to see him.  American on Purpose is his brutally honest memoir.

Ferguson begins his story during his adolescent years in school in Glasgow, Scotland, describing a system that practiced physical punishment more than education.  He takes us on a journey through his life that is funny, sad and inspiring, from Glasgow to late night TV in the USA.  It shows us what can happen if you follow your dreams, never giving up no matter what happens along the way.

What comes across right from the beginning, is that he is not typical of show business personalities.  There is no arrogance or sense of entitlement, no ego.  He is down to earth and completely honest about who he is.  He graphically describes his addiction, sometimes in rather humorous ways.  He wrote of his decision to commit suicide but forgot to do it when someone offered him a sherry.  His writings about his marriages do not ridicule or place all the blame on his wives.  He takes responsibility for his part in the failures of his first two marriages and it is apparent he learned from those mistakes.

His pride in becoming an American citizen is one of the most appealing things about him.  His decision to move to America was made early in his life when, as a teen, he traveled to New York to visit relatives.  What happened along the way is well worth the read.

A Review: 700 Sundays by Billy Crystal

Hardcover: 192 pages
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; First Edition edition (October 31, 2005)
ISBN-10: 0446578673
ISBN-13: 978-0446578677





I bought this book because 1)  I love Billy Crystal, and 2) I needed something light and entertaining to read on the plane while traveling to Kansas City to visit my mother.  700 Sundays refers to the number of Sundays Billy got to spend with his father before he died.  Instead of writing about his many successes as a comedian and actor, Billy concentrates on his early years with his marvelous family.  In addition to one line zingers throughout the book, we are introduced to a bunch of colorful characters who never cease to be interesting and downright hilarious.  There is his grandmother who said to gravelly voiced Louis Armstrong (to his delight) "Louis, have you ever tried just coughing it up?"; his Uncle Milt Gabler, who started the Commodore music label and recorded Billie Holiday singing "Strange Fruit" when no one else would; and of course, Billy's father, the man who bought his little boy a tape recorder when he announced he wanted to be a comedian and didn't scold him when he repeated off-color borscht belt routines for family gatherings.

We get a glimpse into the lives of a Jewish family in the 50's in all it's hilarity, frustration and grief, but what is most impressive is the love and support this family felt and provided for each other.

Synopsis:

One of America's most beloved entertainers takes us home. Billy Crystal opens the front door to a time in his life when he shared joy, love, music, and laughter with an eccentric family headed by the hardworking father who left them all too soon.

From the story of the Crystal family's proud connection to the New York jazz scene of the '40s and '50s...to the hilarious living room performances that would sow the seeds of Billy's unparalleled career...to the times of tragedy, heartbreak, and his mother's unending courage, 700 Sundays celebrates the memories, the love, and all the other wonderful gifts parents can give a child.

Based on his Tony Award®-winning play, 700 Sundays is not the story of Billy Crystal's great career. It is a tribute to a family and the people who helped make him a man. Personal, poignant, and funny, it will have you laughing out loud — and sometimes crying — with the realization that Billy's family is also yours.

A Review: Against Medical Advice: A True Story by James Patterson & Hal Friedman

Hardcover: 283 pages
Publisher: Little Brown & Co Oct 2008
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0316024759
ISBN-13: 9780316024754





To say this book was inspirational would be an understatement. This is a fascinating and ultimately hopeful story about Cory Friedman's battle with Tourette's syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder and anxiety disorder. It describes the sometimes ill treatment received by the medical and education establishments in Cory's and his parent's attempts to find help and treatment, often coming up against arrogance and a lack of understanding from the very people who should understand.

This story is a valuable lesson on a medical condition that remains a mystery. The writing is personal, written in Cory's own voice. It outlines the courage, heartbreak, sacrifice and ultimate victory of Cory and his family by the sheer strength of the human spirit.

Description (from the author's website)

The dramatic true account of one family's struggle with a tormenting medical mystery.

One morning when he was almost five years old, Cory Friedman woke up with the uncontrollable urge to shake his head. From that day forward his life became an agony of irrepressible tics and involuntary utterances. Cory embarked on a fifteen-year odyssey of medication upon medication, treatment upon treatment–a constantly changing regimen that left him and his family feeling like guinea pigs in an out-of-control experiment. It soon became unclear which tics were symptoms of his condition and which were side effects of the countless combinations of drugs. The only certainty was that it kept getting worse. Simply put: Cory Friedman's life was a living hell.

Subjected to debilitating treatments and continuous ridicule, Cory became devastatingly aware of how he appeared to others. With the love of his family and the support of a few steadfast teachers and medical professionals, he fought for his very life, and you will cheer his amazing successes.

Against Medical Advice is the true story of Cory's battle for survival in the face of extraordinary difficulties and a sometimes maddening medical establishment. Written by James Patterson and Cory's father, Hal, and with the relentless pace of a Patterson thriller, this is a heartrending story of one family's courage, determination, and ultimate triumph.