Angelhead: My Brother's Descent into Madness

By Greg Bottoms

Book Overview

"My brother saw the face of God. You never recover from a trauma like that." So beginsAngelhead, a taut, powerful memoir of the madness and crime that rips a family apart. "I didn't see God, of course, but I saw my brother seeing God; I saw how petrified he was, how convinced." Set in Tidewater, Virginia, in the 1980s and early 1990s,Angelheaddocuments the violent, drug-addled, schizophrenic descent of the author's brother, Michael. Commencing with Michael's first psychotic break at age 14 -- high on acid, seeing God in his suburban bedroom window -- through a series of petty crimes, bizarre disappearances, and suicide attempts to the shocking crime that landed him in the psychiatric wing of a maximum security prison,Angelheadenables us to witness firsthand, as never before, the fragmenting of a mind and a family. "I knew, still know, that he saw, in some form, His or Her or Its face." Bottoms shows, in pitch-perfect prose and with great empathy and dramatic tension, the psychological decline of his brother as he becomes obsessed first with heavy metal music, martial arts, and the occult, and then with the more bizarre aspects of Christianity. We not only see the effects Michael's odd and increasingly violent behavior has on the people around him, but also come to understand how the author, now a successful writer and journalist, used the power of language and storytelling both to save himself and to forgive his brother. With the fast pace and seamless structure of the best crime writing and the moral sophistication and depth of our finest literature,Angelheadwill challenge what we know about mental illness and its impact on us all. It is a brilliant work of unusual intensity. "In his room he was having his first of many psychotic breaks. It came in the form of crippling guilt, ruthless introspection. He was Jesus being scolded by an angry Father. He wore sin, all sin, heavy as lead shackles. God made him look at himself and he was a stone with a minuscule heart."

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0609606263
• ISBN13: 9780609606261
• Release Date: November 2000
• Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (NY)
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.8" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

An incredible read!

I almost did not pick up this book due to the subject matter - too depressing. But I did pick it up, I read it, and I have no regrets. Yes, it is a terrible sad story of the horrific effects of mental illness on one young man and his entire family. But the story is told so well, so cleanly by Greg Bottoms that I could not put it down after the first page. Bottoms touches all the bases, including the differing theories on the causes and treatment of schizophrenia. He admits the tragic truth that what happens to these poor people is very much a mystery. That aside, the story itself is riveting and frequently scary (the 'smell' of madness....). At the end I was filled with sadness and compassion for this family. And I will look for more writings by Greg Bottoms who showed so much courage and heart in opening his painful world for us to see. Read it!

by far the most artistic and well-written book on schiz.

at least in my opinion.i noticed several negative reviews of this book...particularly the few bashing the book because of it's portrayal of how schizophrenia affects the family's life.well, hey, i'm sorry if that offends you, ya know, but guess what? it's true. that's just how it is. i'm sorry all of you parents of schizophrenic people(and other activists) are too engrossed in your sympathy to realize that there are other's affected by schizophrenia than the patient.i would know.i've been dxd with undifferentiated schizophrenia since i was 15 years old(i'm currently 19) i've been through this. far and away this book is one of the most artistic books i've seen on schizophrenia, rivalled only, perhaps, by "quiet room" or "imagining robert".this is an incredibly engrossing read and moves at a fast pace. even when the story is at a would-be boring part, the author's beautiful use of language carries it through. highly recommended.btw, just to let it be known, the author does not seem to have a great grasp on the normal outcome of schiz...however such trivialties can be easily forgotten - if even noticed.great book and a great read.**this book should be read for what it is, rather than what the topic or genre is.

A strange and beautiful book

I was very moved by this book--to tears, which is unheard of for me. How Greg Bottoms gets into his brother's head creates amazing feeling. I couldn't explain how he does it. I'm no critic, alas, just an avid reader, particularly of books having to do with abnormal psychology, and also Southern literature. One of the reviewers below didn't like this tact (the same person mentions a trial when in fact there is no trial, only an admission of guilt to arson and attempted murder and then a sentence to the psych ward of a maximum security prison). To me this kind of imaginative writing and conjecture as to the state of the subject's mind during his crimes made what could have just been an interesting memoir into a special one, even a great one. I felt this rose above the level of personal tragedy and said something important about illness, family, and even contemporary society. Fine work, indeed.

Awesome and gut-wrenching

I read this book straight through. Bottoms' account of what his family went through while his older brother descended into madness is an amazing and gut-wrenching work. Most impressive of all perhaps is that out of such pain and darkness, Bottoms was able to create such a genuinely moving and beautiful work. I'm looking forward to the next book by this talented young writer.

Incredible

I want to do this book justice, but my prose is inadequate to describe how well it is written. It is not my type of book at all - I'd rather go to the dentist than read the story of someone's descent into madness and the impact on the family. But this book is written with the power and excitement of the very best fiction.All that comes to my mind is cliches -- it is gut-wrenching -- I couldn't put it down -- I am sorry -- Read it.