Paul Pines
november 16, 7 pm
Psychotherapist, Novelist, Poet, and Jazz Promoter Paul Pines Reads at Real Art Ways.
Paul Pines presently lives in Glens Falls, NY, where he practices as a psychotherapist at Glens Falls Hospital, and hosts the annual Lake George Jazz Weekend. He is the author of six books of poetry, and his roman-noir jazz novel The Tin Angel got high critical acclaim.
Part memoir, part psychological thriller, My Brother's Madness is a gripping personal saga of a family striving to cope with mental illness. It is based on the author's relationship to his brother who had a mental breakdown in his late 40s. The book explores the unfolding of the intertwined lives of the brothers. Circumstances lead one brother from juvenile crime on the streets of Brooklyn to war-torn Vietnam, to a fast-track life as a Hollywood publicist and to owning and operating one of New York's most legendary jazz clubs, The Tin Palace, while his sibling falls into, and fights his way back from, a delusional psychosis.
Kirkus Reviews notes, “The author's deep love for his sibling is evident on every page of this intense, painstaking chronicle...a searing portrait, " and Publishers Weekly writes, "[A] gracefully written memoir...Never descending into easy sentimentality, Pines portrays the family tragedy of mental illness and the bare possibility of redemption we have in this life."
Praise For My Brother’s Madness from the Mental Health Community
“More than a personal memoir, this novelistically constructed story gives a fascinating glimpse into the millions of American families whose lives have been forever altered by the neurobiological disorders we call mental illness.”—J. David Seay, Executive Director NAMI-New York State
“The manuscript’s strength is its inextricable weaving together of madness and brotherhood…Mr. Pines’ efforts to navigate the treatment system stand alone as a plaintive call for increased funding and humanity, and a reminder that the lives of people are at stake.”—Paul S. Benveniste, Licenced Clinical Psychologist, Glens Falls Hospital
“I believe My Brother’s Madness is simply a good read with an important statement about what it is to be human, and the nobility of the struggle to heal the wounds we all experience.”—Nancy Harrigan, President NAMI-North Country Chapter
