He Wanted The Moon by Mimi Baird

"He Wanted The Moon" by Mimi Baird is a the story of the author's father who as a doctor suffering from maniac depression (modernly known as bi-polar) tried to figure out its cause before he got institutionalized in the 40's.   This book was so powerful the first half was Dr. Perry Baird's own writing from right before he was sent to a mental hospital to his last writing in 1944 and the second half is written by his daughter from her viewpoint of when he left to as an adult finding out more about her father.  His writings about his treatment in the mental hospital is so sad especially when he mentioned the ages of some of the others in there (i.e. young children).  The way we have as a society we have treated people that are different than us but not dangerous is so sad.  Then his daughter writing about how she had no idea what really happened to her father until she got older is so sad but I am glad she shared with us his quest to cure himself and others.  It was very interesting to find out what this man discovered years before another doctor discovered about maniac depression but was not taken seriously since he suffered from it also.  What a reminder to listen to the people that are suffering from the disease themselves as they may have figured out something that someone who doesn't have it might not know.  This was a very powerful book and I highly recommend it. 

I was given this book from Blogging for books for my honest review and was not required to give a positive review.