One of the best memoir type books I've ever read. Dr. Viscott recounts his journey as a resident in several psychiatric settings before he finally becomes a psychiatrist himself. He tells his story with compassion, intelligence and humor. The reader gets to see the appalling state of the mental health institutions and how Viscott works his way around the system to better serve the patients. Sometimes the other residents are hard to tell apart from the patients. Of course, since Viscott has written this book, he portays himself as one of the sane, truly compassionate guys. However, he does balance this with recounting his mistakes as well as his own psychological blind spots. This book was published in 1972. It gives insight into why many of the institutions were closed down. If only this system had been replaced with a more workable, humane solution than what we have now.

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