Green Valley Book Club - April Selection
Please Note: Rev. Annette will be out of town on April 25, our regular meeting date. Therefore, we will meet on May 2, 1:30-3:00. This is a hybrid meeting—you can join on Zoom (link below) or in person at the church.
From award-winning journalist Meg Kissinger, a searing memoir of a family besieged by mental illness, as well as an incisive exploration of the systems that failed them and a testament to the love that sustained them. Growing up in the 1960s in the suburbs of Chicago, Meg Kissinger’s family seemed to live a charmed life. With eight kids and two loving parents, the Kissinger’s radiated a warm, boisterous energy. Whether they were spending summer days on the shores of Lake Michigan, barreling down the ski slopes, or navigating the trials of their Catholic school, the Kissinger’s always knew how to live large and play hard.
But behind closed doors, a harsher reality was unfolding—a heavily medicated mother hospitalized for anxiety and depression, a manic father prone to violence, and children in the throes of bipolar disorder and depression, two of whom would take their own lives. Through it all, the Kissinger’s faced the world with their signature dark humor and the unspoken family rule: never talk about it.
While You Were Out begins as the personal story of one family’s struggles then opens outward, as Kissinger details how childhood tragedy catalyzed a journalism career focused on exposing our country’s flawed mental health care. Combining the intimacy of memoir with the rigor of investigative reporting, the book explores the consequences of shame, the havoc of botched public policy, and the hope offered by new treatment strategies.
Powerful, candid, and filled with surprising humor, this is the story of one family’s love and resilience in face of great loss.
Zoom Link:Annette Dimond is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: GVUMC Book ClubTime: May 2, 2024 01:30 PMJoin Zoom
Meetinghttps://us06web.zoom.us/j/82816661339
Meeting ID: 828 1666 1339