Sandra Allen's new book is A Kind of Mirraculas Paradise: A True Story About Schizophrenia. One of nine "works that speak about schizophrenia honestly, and yet do so with a measure of hope" that she tagged at Electric Lit:The Gene: An Intimate History by Siddhartha MukherjeeRead about another entry on the list.
This is a deeply considered and gorgeously rendered work, part memoir and part clear-eyed assessment of the past, present and future of genetic study. Mukherjee, both a physician and gifted writer, begins by describing the several members of his family whose lives have been devastated byschizophrenia. In order to better understand schizophrenia, he explains all of genetics generally, unraveling the fascinating story of how researchers have come to know what they do about genes. Arriving in the present day about halfway through the book, he then shifts into exploring the ramifications of genetic knowledge today. He discusses such matters as race and gender and identity and intergenerational trauma and psychiatric diagnoses like schizophrenia. I think the world would be a better place if everybody read The Gene.
--Marshal Zeringue
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