Songs from the Black Chair by Charles Barber
Day after day, night after night, the desperate men come and sit in the black chair next to author's desk in a basement office at Bellevue and tell of their travails, of prison and AIDS and heroin, of crack and methadone and sexual abuse, and the voices that plague them. This book tells his story.
"An amazing book.. Barber is a gifted writer, and the work he has produced is an important addition to the literature of both mental health and New York City." The Village Voice "A beautifully written, and very moving memoir--a story of hope and talent that persists, no matter the tragedies that await any of us at one or another point in our lives."--Robert Coles, James Agee Professor of Social Ethics at Harvard University, Pulitzer Prize-winner, and author of The Spiritual Lives of Children "A complex and sophisticated memoir by a young man who survived a harrowing brush with mental illness and eventually became, by a roundabout route, a mental health professional. His account of his odyssey is compelling, disturbing, many-faceted, and highly imaginative. I've never read another book quite like it."--William Finnegan, author of Cold New World: Growing up in Harder Country and staff writer for The New Yorker "Written from inside the belly of the beast, Charles Barber's Songs soars like a lovely melody above the din of the world, and in juxtaposition to the silence of those who suffer from mental illness of any sort. Engrossing, perceptive, and elegantly written."--Carlos Eire, author of Waiting for Snow in Havana and winner of the National Book Award "A beautifully rendered look at other people's, and the author's, struggles with mental illness." The Bloomsbury Review
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780803212985 |
| ISBN 10 | 0803212984 |
| Title | Songs from the Black Chair |
| Author | Charles Barber |
| Series | American Lives Ser |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | University of Nebraska Press |
| Year published | 2005-03-01 |
| Number of pages | 203 |
| Prizes | Commended for Connecticut Book Awards (Biography/Memoir) 2006 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |