Too Bright to Hear Too Loud to See

By: Juliann Garey

Narrated by: Dan Butler

In her tour-de-force first novel, Juliann Garey takes us inside the restless mind, ravaged heart, and anguished soul of Greyson Todd, a successful Hollywood studio executive who leaves his wife and young daughter and for a decade travels the world giving free reign to the bipolar disorder he's been forced to keep hidden for almost 20 years.

The novel intricately weaves together three timelines: the story of Greyson's travels (Rome, Israel, Santiago, Thailand, Uganda); the progressive unraveling of his own father seen through Greyson's eyes as a child; and the intimacies and estrangements of his marriage. The entire narrative unfolds in the time it takes him to undergo 12 30-second electroshock treatments in a New York psychiatric ward. This is a literary page-turner of the first order, and a brilliant inside look at mental illness.

©2012 Juliann Garey (P)2012 AudioGO

When the universe is stacked against you

Excellent! What a poignant and fortright telling of the struggle with mental illness. It was beautifully written and eloquently read. My favorite part was his reuniting with a daughter he no longer recognizes. And their slow progress in reconnecting. It shows the stigma of the illness of the mind and heartbreaking pain and anguish of the sufferers. Its not sugar coated. But, deals with it very honestly. The pain, the loss and the utter feelings of hopelessness and despair. I loved this book. I hope many others will read this and come away more enlightened, even if only just a little. "A must read"

bipolar experience

a pretty empathetic portrayal of one man's life with bipolar people. both himself and his own father, it was great to juxtapose the effect of bd on 2 lives.

A story of a lifetime of Depression.

If you can handle the emotional ups and downs of manic depression this is a good book. It doesn't soften the edges of the life of not only the those inflicted but also those around them. Best read on a sunny day.

moving story and fantastic narrator

I'm not sure what all the complaints were about regardng the explicit scenes. I found them integral to the story and created even more depth to Grayson's journey. a must read for anyone who loves someone with a mental illness.

Very Good!

Credible development of a bipolar character as well as the people around him. The format is structurally interesting. Overall this was a very well written book. I purchased it randomly and was pleasantly surprised. Note that I normally dislike works by female authors, since they tend to be sentimental and focus on gender issues. This book was remarkably gender neutral.