by Howard Dully
First published 2009
Twelve-year-old Howard Dully enters the hospital believing he will undergo routine tests. His father and stepmother have delivered him to Dr. Walter Freeman, the inventor of the ice pick lobotomy. Freeman's procedure has fallen from favor in the medical community, but he remains eager to practice on difficult children. Howard's stepmother has filled Freeman's ears with lies about the boy's behavior. Instead of tests, Howard receives electroshock treatments and a transorbital lobotomy designed to make him compliant. The surgery leaves him struggling to rebuild his life over the next four decades. Howard must piece together not only his shattered mind but also the truth about why his family betrayed him. His stepmother's deceptions and his father's complicity slowly come to light as Howard fights to understand what happened to him and why. At fifty-six, he finally uncovers the full story behind his childhood ordeal and begins the long journey toward healing.
Genres: mental-health, abuse, medical, biography-memoir
Vibes: dark, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: unreliable-narrator
Period: 20th-century
288 pages · Paperback · Vermilion
Content warnings: abuse, child-abuse, medical-trauma, mental-illness