"My Lobotomy" Book Review

My Lobotomy by Howard Dully
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"At twelve, Howard Dully was guilty of the same crimes as other boys his age: he was moody and messy, rambunctious with his brothers, contrary just to prove a point, and perpetually at odds with his parents. Yet somehow, this normal boy became one of the youngest people on whom Dr. Walter Freeman performed his barbaric transorbital—or ice pick—lobotomy.

"Abandoned by his family within a year of the surgery, Howard spent his teen years in mental institutions, his twenties in jail, and his thirties in a bottle. It wasn’t until he was in his forties that Howard began to pull his life together. But even as he began to live the “normal” life he had been denied, Howard struggled with one question: Why?

“ 'October 8, 1960. I gather that Mrs. Dully is perpetually talking, admonishing, correcting, and getting worked up into a spasm, whereas her husband is impatient, explosive, rather brutal, won’t let the boy speak for himself, and calls him numbskull, dimwit, and other uncomplimentary names.'

"There were only three people who would know the truth: Freeman, the man who performed the procedure; Lou, his cold and demanding stepmother who brought Howard to the doctor’s attention; and his father, Rodney. Of the three, only Rodney, the man who hadn’t intervened on his son’s behalf, was still living. Time was running out. Stable and happy for the first time in decades, Howard began to search for answers.

“ 'December 3, 1960. Mr. and Mrs. Dully have apparently decided to have Howard operated on. I suggested [they] not tell Howard anything about it.'

"Through his research, Howard met other lobotomy patients and their families, talked with one of Freeman’s sons about his father’s controversial life’s work, and confronted Rodney about his complicity. And, in the archive where the doctor’s files are stored, he finally came face to face with the truth.

"Revealing what happened to a child no one—not his father, not the medical community, not the state—was willing to protect, My Lobotomy exposes a shameful chapter in the history of the treatment of mental illness. Yet, ultimately, this is a powerful and moving chronicle of the life of one man. Without reticence, Howard Dully shares the story of a painfully dysfunctional childhood, a misspent youth, his struggle to claim the life that was taken from him, and his redemption."

This was an inspiring and fascinating account of the medical community's atrocious practice and how it affected one man's life for over forty years. It is scary to think that this type of 'medicine' is used on children today for nefarious reasons. It really sucks that his stepmother was the evil stepmother seen in fairy tales, that his brothers were too skittish to talk to their own brother for years afterward, and that his own father wasn't man enough to admit that he was a terrible protector of his own flesh and blood. The whole community was at fault there. But at the end, he found his way to be happy in life and that is the part that counts, for him anyway. As for the rest of us, we need to make sure this type of stuff doesn't happen to the following generations of children. Seriously recommend this book! Also: Hilary Mantel's "Giving Up the Ghost: A Memoir" is very similar and a good read, though sad.

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