From Publishers Weekly
At age 12, in 1960, Dully received a transorbital or ice pick lobotomy from Dr. Walter Freeman, who invented the procedure, making Dully an unfortunate statistic in medical history—the youngest of the more than 10,000 patients who Freeman lobotomized to cure their supposed mental illness. In this brutally honest memoir, Dully, writing with Fleming (The Ivory Coast), describes how he set out 40 years later to find out why he was lobotomized, since he did not exhibit any signs of mental instability at the time, and why, postoperation, he was bounced between various institutions and then slowly fell into a life of drug and alcohol abuse. His journey—first described in a National Public Radio feature in 2005—finds Dully discovering how deeply he was the victim of an unstable stepmother who systematically abused him and who then convinced his distant father that a lobotomy was the answer to Dully's acting out against her psychic torture. He also investigates the strange career of Freeman—who wasn't a licensed psychiatrist—including early acclaim by the New York Times and cross-country trips hawking the operation from his Lobotomobile. But what is truly stunning is Dully's description of how he gained strength and a sense of self-worth by understanding how both Freeman and his stepmother were victims of their own family tragedies, and how he managed to somehow forgive them for the wreckage they caused in his life. (Sept.)

This book is off to Stacers1973 in trade...enjoy!:)

Thanks for the trade ... hope yours gets there soon :)

I enjoyed reading this ... the subject matter was a bit (emotionally) difficult. As a stepmom, it was hard to imagine the treatment of this boy. And the Dr, what a egomaniac, messing with people like that. No protection whatsoever ... all the forces that should have and could have helped this boy failed. I am going to see if hubby wants to read it as he was born in 1960, the year of Howard's lobotomy ... and when he was small the Dr's were disappointed in his development and told her to institutionalize him. She fought the Drs every step of the way (there is nothing wrong with him) for both my hubby and my brother in law who was born a few years later with Downs Syndrome. If he doesn't want to read it I will search the wishlists. Thanks again for the trade Flakes!

Happy HGG ... please enjoy :)

WOW!!! Thanks so much for the surprise!!! This has been on my wish list for a while. Will read and pass on. Happy Holidays!!!!!

On reserve for Kaila-Ann for the wishlist tag game.

Off to Kaila-Ann for the wishlist tag game.

Arrived safe and sound.