The Dinosaur Man: Tales of Madness and Enchantment from the Back Ward

by Susan Baur

The Dinosaur Man fuses Susan Baur's clinical observations with a deep affection for her patients and a forthright admiration of their courage and wit. She uncovers cunning metaphorical truths in the histories sch8izophrenics create for themselves, and demonstrates that the ways and reasons they tell their stories inextricably link them to us all.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Mental Illness, Memoir

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Susan Baur is a retired psychologist who has published several books of clinical tales, including The Dinosaur Man and Confiding. More recently, she has published The Turtle Sisters book series for children. Founder of Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage, she lives and swims with turtles, and cleans ponds in the US.

Reviews

[P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dr. Baur talks about her time working with severely delusional patients in a psychiatric ward, but this isn't a book for mere gawkers of human experience. Baur is relentlessly compassionate, not treating to teach patients how to pass in society, but getting right in there with them and working in their reality until they feel safe enough to fight with the things that have been tormenting them or venture out behind their shield of babble (depending on the patient). The result is a revealing look at mental illness and the power of love.

My one quibble is that Baur is obsessed with Mr. Nouvelle the Dinosaur Man and can't let a chapter go by without mentioning him.

[Lu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting.


P. 1 quote

P2-3
I could see that... to betrayal.

P. 4
I was rewarded... to survive.

Opprobrium

P5
Insouciance

P6
Festooned

P7
Korsakoff's syndrome
"My brain... lets you down. "

P8
Walleyed
Histrionic

P13
Quote

P19
Occidental
Barrens

P23
Wattles (chicken part)
"Mr. Nouvelle's... be understood..."

P27
The highest level... indoctrinated".
Desultory

P28
Transmogrification

P30
Nascent
"No im not frightened... betwixt"

31
What would it take... for love. "

P37
Delusions were... for chaos

You have been... words of love.

P40
Quixotic

P45
Acrimonious
Ardor

P48
Reticence

P62
Swarthy
Nonplussed

P64
Missal
Ebulliently

P66
Voluble
Affable

P66-67
Paul Whitman... meeting room.

P67
Vociferous

P68
Why did space aliens... listened to.

P69-70
Perhaps... fully explain.

P70
The artist... common nature.

P71
Quote

P72
Apocryphal

But simple or... the listener.

P75
Diatribes
Interstices

P76
Pygmalion

P79
Ruminations

P81
Conversely... was writing.

His was... unchangeable .

P83
How completely... to magic.

P84
Webs of delusion

P87
Quote 1

P89 "what went wrong?"

P90
Whereas... peels?

P91
Sardonic

When i spoke... using

P95
Because i... the world
The world is... get you

P96
The staff seemed... i don't exist.

P98 mental divergence... complicated ways

P99
Gliding down.. and joy.
Equanimity

P100-101
The complement...1840... intended

P102
What would you... his torment.

So when will they fix me?

P103
Mr nouvellw, mr. Bartlett... right now.

P105 they tell me... throw myself away

Patients were... sound of singing.


P106
For me... its love?

P107
Quote

P111
Helter-skelter

P112
Complicitous
Vociferous
To cadge a cigarette

P114
The glue... the world.
Of course she.. possessed.

P116
Ubiquitous
He is suffering... obliquely

P118
Acceptance... usefulness

P120 as mr nouvelle... throw up.

P122
Jettison
Roil

P131
Demurred
P133
Ebullience

P137
I've always known.. woman

P138
She argued... anybody wants.

P139
Ameliorate
Outflank
Double binds

P140
In short...as love.

P143
A Pyrrhic victory

P145
Quote

P146
Quarry

P149
Heft
Refectory

P152
Piety
Imperturbable

P155
Tangential

P159
Ammunition locker

P169
You know... too much

172
Carbine

173
Exigencies

P174
Skiffs

P181
Jounced

P186
Vontage

P189
Ameliorated

P194
Hablador

P196
Reticence

[Jeff Lyon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title Dinosaur Man, Tales of Madness and Enchantment From The Back Ward enticed me to read Susan Baur's book about the deeply disturbed patients that populate the wards for seriously, mentally challenged people. The Ph.D. in counseling psychology shares with her readers the deepest, darkest thoughts of her most interesting cases. Her belief that peoples' memories change with there current conditions and even her patients' most cherished remembrances are altered by time and circumstances rings true. Dr. Baur's theory that humans need their memories to hold their minds together and bolster self esteem is credible. The kind doctor reports patient stories that range from grotesque and socially unacceptable to sublime and hilarious. Her ability to objectively listen to even the most repulsive thoughts shared by her charges aids in her research and is cleverly summed up in the final line of the book's Conclusion: In Search Of A Usable Past chapter. "They say that what is remembered goes on living and can happen again."

I favor novels when I read, but the probing discoveries from inside dysfunctional minds Dr. Baur reveals from her many interviews were fascinating and useful tools for creating a character's motivation when I write. At times this book was too clinical for my experience on the topics of paranoia, schizophrenia, and delusion, but I did take away a deeper understanding and compassion for the chronically mentally ill.

[Naomi Starling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having been a writer of unpublished short stories myself my entire life, I am not a reader who is easy to please. Very, very rarely does a book come along that holds me rivetted, that makes me want to disregard all other hobbies, passions, and even responsibilities to read and that stays with me, burrowing a fond place of remembrance deep into my psyche. However, this book has done just that!

I have already told my husband that I believe he should read it, and I do whole-heartedly believe that anyone who suffers from or with others who suffer from mental illness (not just schizophrenia) should read it. If you have ever tried to help someone who suffers from such, or if you have ever been hurt by such a person, or if you deal with mental woes yourself as so many of us do, I highly believe you should read this book! If you're thinking about going into nursing, teaching, or Preaching, again, you should read this book. And if you're wondering just what's eating at your small town and why it's not the same after covin, again, you should read this book!

I am still sitting in awe, having just finished the book about ten minutes ago. I actually checked the date it was published after finishing, and am in equal awe that it was written 30 years ago and still holds so very true to today's society.

Read this book!

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

". . . without realizing it, all of us revise our past whenever we change our present, and . . . this dual process is at the center of therapy and of ordinary development as well."

". . . one cannot remember critical events with their overpowering feelings unless one has changed, but one cannot change unless enough of the past is revived and reinterpreted to provide a new perspective on the present."

One is stuck, so cognitive therapy tries to change the thinking so actions and feelings will change OR behavioral therapy tries to change behavior so thinking and feelings will change OR emotive therapy tries to change the feelings.

[Cat. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really interesting book on the behavior and consciousness of schizophrenics. The author coalesced several patients and locations into one group of people at one hospital. Her explanation of 'why the talk/act that way' is really good, giving rise to the enchantment in the subtitle. She also talks about a couple of unhospitalized patients she treats--guys who function in the real world ably enough but have some kind of magical thinking that blocks part of their lives.

[Noah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone interested in looking at severe psychosis with a new lens, this is the book to check out. I found this book hard to put down, and Susan's way of talking about the many characters diagnostically informative deep fried in compassion and humor. She easily conveys how important it is to continue to listen.

[Nina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was written by a psychologist who saw a kind of beauty in the hallucinations and emotional defenses of patients in mental institutions. She questioned at times -- as did I -- the wisdom and value of removing those defenses that protected people from more emotional pain than they were capable of bearing. Besides, some of those hallucinations were delightful!

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Made me cry. Dr. Baur is a creative, engaging psychologist who recounts several of her severely mentally ill clients with empathy and grace. She attempts to map out the failings of the "murdered mind" so that others can understand how frustrating it is to deal with disorders like schizophrenia. A short, enjoyable, and bittersweet read.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. Very well written. It touched my heart.