Asylum - by William Seabrook (Paperback)

About the Book

Dramatic memoir recounts an alcoholic's eight-month commitment at a mental hospital during the 1930s. Written by a renowned journalist, it offers an honest, self-critical look at addiction and treatment.

Book Synopsis

"Perhaps the most honest and haunting accounts of the struggle for mental health in literature." -- Observer
This dramatic memoir recounts an eight-month stay at a Westchester mental hospital in the early 1930s. William Seabrook, a renowned journalist and explorer, voluntarily committed himself to an asylum for treatment of acute alcoholism. His sincere, self-critical appraisal of his experiences offers a highly interesting look at addiction and treatment in the days before Alcoholics Anonymous and other modern programs.
"Very few people could be as honest as Seabrook is here," noted The New York Times, "and it is honesty plus the talent Seabrook has already had that makes a book of this sort first-rate." This edition of the soul-baring narrative features a new graphic novel-style introduction by Joe Ollmann, who also created the cover art.
"With zombies in vogue and his books coming back onto the market after decades out of print, maybe old Willie Seabrook, the lost king of the weird, can finally get the recognition and infamy he earned." ― Benjamin Welton, Vice.com

About the Author

Journalist and explorer William Seabrook (1884-1945) possessed a fascination with the occult that led him across the globe to study magic rituals, train as a witch doctor, and sample human flesh. In addition to publishing more than a dozen books, he wrote for The New York Times, Cosmopolitan, Reader's Digest, and Vanity Fair.