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Malcolm Is a Little Unwell
218 pages, ebook
First published May 18, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 22, 2016
Of all the books on mental illness and brain disorders that I have read, this is one of the poorest. The author is a complete narcissist when he's well, and thinks he's God or Jesus or the devil when he is in the middle of a bipolar episode. I give props to his long-suffering and supportive wife, to whom he has given little reason to stay married.
I would characterize the author as bumptious--crudely self-asserting. He says several times that events or awards humble him, yet he repeatedly asserts himself to be an "alpha male." He is opinionated, boisterous, combative and uses the word "iconic" five times in about two pages. He has a huge vocabulary, some of it wrong (he doesn't know that enormity means monstrous wickedness; he just think it means anything big). I made 45 notes, which I usually do when I find something poorly expressed, arrogant, or incorrect grammatically. That's more than I've made for any other book I've read in the past two years.
His psychotic episodes are evidently undefined as bipolar until towards the end of the book. Once he mentions that he has been taking seroquel and then introduces it as his new drug much later. He has either disdain or hatred for most psychiatrists he is treated by. He thinks he is quite a smart guy, even though he's never been to university. I won't articulate each of his imprecisions, factual errors, grammatical errors, but the book is full of them.
If you want to read a good, first-person book about a bipolar person, read The Loony-Bin Trip by Kate Millett. If you want to read a good, first-person book about schizophrenia, read The Center Cannot Hold, by Ellyn Saks. Both these writers are brilliant, demonstrate their mental illnesses in a sympathetic way, and don't congratulate themselves continually as he does. They give you insight into their brain conditions without trying to make their psychotic episodes thrilling, scary, and self-important.
I only gave the book three stars because of the author's expansive vocabulary; otherwise I would have given it two stars. As a character in his own book, he is not a sympathetic person. He does not treat his wife the way I would like to be treated if I were she, and he is just thoroughly unlikable and unduly self-impressed.
I would recommend avoiding this book entirely.
I would characterize the author as bumptious--crudely self-asserting. He says several times that events or awards humble him, yet he repeatedly asserts himself to be an "alpha male." He is opinionated, boisterous, combative and uses the word "iconic" five times in about two pages. He has a huge vocabulary, some of it wrong (he doesn't know that enormity means monstrous wickedness; he just think it means anything big). I made 45 notes, which I usually do when I find something poorly expressed, arrogant, or incorrect grammatically. That's more than I've made for any other book I've read in the past two years.
His psychotic episodes are evidently undefined as bipolar until towards the end of the book. Once he mentions that he has been taking seroquel and then introduces it as his new drug much later. He has either disdain or hatred for most psychiatrists he is treated by. He thinks he is quite a smart guy, even though he's never been to university. I won't articulate each of his imprecisions, factual errors, grammatical errors, but the book is full of them.
If you want to read a good, first-person book about a bipolar person, read The Loony-Bin Trip by Kate Millett. If you want to read a good, first-person book about schizophrenia, read The Center Cannot Hold, by Ellyn Saks. Both these writers are brilliant, demonstrate their mental illnesses in a sympathetic way, and don't congratulate themselves continually as he does. They give you insight into their brain conditions without trying to make their psychotic episodes thrilling, scary, and self-important.
I only gave the book three stars because of the author's expansive vocabulary; otherwise I would have given it two stars. As a character in his own book, he is not a sympathetic person. He does not treat his wife the way I would like to be treated if I were she, and he is just thoroughly unlikable and unduly self-impressed.
I would recommend avoiding this book entirely.
June 27, 2013
Malcolm is a Little Unwell – what a statement and it sums up the book. Malcolm Brabant is a Facebook friend, you know – you have mutual friends in common and often (as in our case) you’ve never met. I was aware of Mr. Brabant because I spent the last 10 years watching the BBC while living in Greece.
This book is like many of the mysteries I usually read (unlike a murder mystery, we know who the villain is – Sanofi Pasteur) – smooth, compelling, and well-written. I found myself trying to figure out how it ends. But we don’t know what happens next in life, unless we live it or someone as skilled as Mr. Brabant writes about it.
Some of what we don’t know is if the Brabant family prevails over Big Pharma; if their obvious love for each other – husband, wife, and child – is enough to keep them together. I sure hope so. I was rooting for them as if they were my own family. These are talented people and with a little help and a lot of work they’ll be producing at peak capacity soon.
I learned a lot I hadn’t expected to learn; I had never thought much about mental illness on one’s family and one’s personality and psyche before. But I found myself wondering what emotions and passions have I been keeping hidden, and therefore under control, throughout my life. Am I as strong as Trine, Malcolm’s wife? Could I be as strong as Malcolm as he fought his way back to sanity?
Very few books have made me think about myself in this way. I believe I’m pretty self-aware, but I also know that I’m like most people and don’t want to look into unopened cupboards.
What really surprised me was finding myself talking about this book to commute buddies and co-workers alike. I was scared to finish the book because I wasn’t sure I could face more bad news for this family, but I also couldn’t put it down. I even made it a “favorite” on my Kindle so I could find it when next I picked up the e-reader.
This book is like many of the mysteries I usually read (unlike a murder mystery, we know who the villain is – Sanofi Pasteur) – smooth, compelling, and well-written. I found myself trying to figure out how it ends. But we don’t know what happens next in life, unless we live it or someone as skilled as Mr. Brabant writes about it.
Some of what we don’t know is if the Brabant family prevails over Big Pharma; if their obvious love for each other – husband, wife, and child – is enough to keep them together. I sure hope so. I was rooting for them as if they were my own family. These are talented people and with a little help and a lot of work they’ll be producing at peak capacity soon.
I learned a lot I hadn’t expected to learn; I had never thought much about mental illness on one’s family and one’s personality and psyche before. But I found myself wondering what emotions and passions have I been keeping hidden, and therefore under control, throughout my life. Am I as strong as Trine, Malcolm’s wife? Could I be as strong as Malcolm as he fought his way back to sanity?
Very few books have made me think about myself in this way. I believe I’m pretty self-aware, but I also know that I’m like most people and don’t want to look into unopened cupboards.
What really surprised me was finding myself talking about this book to commute buddies and co-workers alike. I was scared to finish the book because I wasn’t sure I could face more bad news for this family, but I also couldn’t put it down. I even made it a “favorite” on my Kindle so I could find it when next I picked up the e-reader.
July 31, 2013
Malcolm Brabant is an experienced journalist and veteran BBC foreign correspondent. He has reported on events in the US, the Balkans, Chechnya and Greece. He was living permanently in Greece and working as a freelance “stringer”, but hadn’t had much work for a while and was eager to accept an offer from Unicef to report from the Ivory Coast. In April 2011 he was vaccinated against yellow fever, a requirement for travelling to West Africa.
Within hours of receiving a dose of the vaccine, Stamaril, he was running a raging fever and shortly after started experiencing psychotic episodes. This gripping and terrifying book chronicles his descent into madness and is a moving and immensely readable account of what it is like to lose your grip on reality.
It’s a brave book, and Malcolm Brabant spares the reader nothing in his description of what he experienced. His illness nearly destroyed him and his family, and left them almost destitute. Unable to afford further medical care in Greece they relocated to Denmark, his wife Trine’s native country, where they have since tried to re-establish some sort of normal life. Trine herself is very much the heroine of the story, as she has remained loyal and steadfast throughout the ordeal. To this day she is fighting Sanofi Pasteur, the pharmaceutical giant who still maintain that their vaccine was not the cause of Malcolm’s problems, although there are other cases where Stamaril has had an adverse effect.
Eloquent and absorbing, this is an unforgettable book and Malcolm Brabant is to be congratulated on sharing such an important story with us. At present it’s only available as an e-book, so I hope it will be published as a traditional book as well. It deserves a wide readership.
Within hours of receiving a dose of the vaccine, Stamaril, he was running a raging fever and shortly after started experiencing psychotic episodes. This gripping and terrifying book chronicles his descent into madness and is a moving and immensely readable account of what it is like to lose your grip on reality.
It’s a brave book, and Malcolm Brabant spares the reader nothing in his description of what he experienced. His illness nearly destroyed him and his family, and left them almost destitute. Unable to afford further medical care in Greece they relocated to Denmark, his wife Trine’s native country, where they have since tried to re-establish some sort of normal life. Trine herself is very much the heroine of the story, as she has remained loyal and steadfast throughout the ordeal. To this day she is fighting Sanofi Pasteur, the pharmaceutical giant who still maintain that their vaccine was not the cause of Malcolm’s problems, although there are other cases where Stamaril has had an adverse effect.
Eloquent and absorbing, this is an unforgettable book and Malcolm Brabant is to be congratulated on sharing such an important story with us. At present it’s only available as an e-book, so I hope it will be published as a traditional book as well. It deserves a wide readership.
December 30, 2017
The harrowing story of Malcolm Brabant's long and terrifying descent into psychotic illness following a yellow fever vaccine. Courage, humour and love shine through in this true story of the aftermath of a routine vaccination.
Thankfully most of us will never have to face the horrors that Mr Brabant experienced after a routine vaccination for Yellow Fever. His almost immediate adverse reaction to the vaccination was terrifying; but worse was to come ... hallucinations, hearing voices, attempted suicide, deep depression, the loss of work and self-esteem, committal into a mental hospital, being obliged to move from his beloved Greece where he had been the BBC correspondent and suffering a total mental breakdown. Mr Brabant tells his story with searing and self searching honesty. This is not only the record of his personal journey to hell, told with immense courage, humour and insight, but a testimony to the strength of his 'lioness', his wife, Trine and his devotion to his children. This is the beautifully written and extraordinary story of an ordinary man taking on a pharmaceutical giant .. one only hopes that the next volume sees a just and happy ending for Malcolm and his family.
Thankfully most of us will never have to face the horrors that Mr Brabant experienced after a routine vaccination for Yellow Fever. His almost immediate adverse reaction to the vaccination was terrifying; but worse was to come ... hallucinations, hearing voices, attempted suicide, deep depression, the loss of work and self-esteem, committal into a mental hospital, being obliged to move from his beloved Greece where he had been the BBC correspondent and suffering a total mental breakdown. Mr Brabant tells his story with searing and self searching honesty. This is not only the record of his personal journey to hell, told with immense courage, humour and insight, but a testimony to the strength of his 'lioness', his wife, Trine and his devotion to his children. This is the beautifully written and extraordinary story of an ordinary man taking on a pharmaceutical giant .. one only hopes that the next volume sees a just and happy ending for Malcolm and his family.
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February 9, 2016In 1989 my family and I were sitting by the Byblos port all night, waiting for the boat to take us to Cyprus. The area was being bombed. A BBC reporter, Malcolm Brabant - @malcolmbrabant - happened to be waiting with us, and he came around and interviewed me and Thia, then 7 years old. The next morning, the interview was heard by some of my friends in Cyprus, N. Ireland and New Jersey, USA. So, this book, sad and courageous as it is, had a personal meaning to me. Even now, I go back to those days in 1989 every time I hear Malcolm reporting on BBC.
January 7, 2014
A very scary read. The descent of a highly intelligent, world-experienced journalist into madness, depicted in graphic terms. We can only wish him well in his campaign to prove that a drug company was to blame - he makes a convincing case.
November 18, 2013
A frightening book about the descent of BBC correspondent (and friend of mine) Malcolm Brabant into the depths of mental illness and his slow, painful recovery. Frank, honest and brutal - and impossible to put down.
June 29, 2013
superb, gripping, bit close to home! there but for the grace of god .....
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews