Torn Apart

by James Patterson

Cory Friedman was an ordinary fun-loving little boy. But one fateful March morning in 1989, the course of Cory's life changed dramatically. It started with an irresistible urge to shake his head; before long, overtaken by physical urges, tics and compulsions, his body became a volatile, explosive and unpredictable force. Cory had developed a rare combination of Tourette's syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety disorder and other neurological conditions. The life he knew had been torn apart and his family were left watching him suffer. Desperate to help and hopeful of a cure, they embarked on a fifteen-year struggle which took them beyond breaking point.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Mental Health, True Story, Psychology, Drama, Adult

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Official US Site
Official UK Site
JIMMY Patterson Books
ReadKiddoRead

James Patterson is the most popular storyteller of our time and the creator of such unforgettable characters and series as Alex Cross, the Women’s Murder Club, Jane Smith, and Maximum Ride. He has coauthored #1 bestselling novels with Bill Clinton, Dolly Parton, and Michael Crichton, as well as collaborated on #1 bestselling nonfiction, including The Idaho Four, Walk in My Combat Boots, and Filthy Rich. Patterson has told the story of his own life in the #1 bestselling autobiography James Patterson by James Patterson. He is the recipient of an Edgar Award, ten Emmy Awards, the Literarian Award from the National Book Foundation, and the National Humanities Medal.

Reviews

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Corey Friedman was only five years old when he began to show signs of a rare condition of Tourette's syndrome. As his condition worsened over the years, Corey develops other disorders such as obsessive compulsive disorder and anxiety disorder.

Reading about Corey and his family's day to day struggles will break your heart. What an amazing and really inspiring read. Torn Apart was an incredibly moving and heart wrenching story and one in which I HIGHLY recommend.

[Sheree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Torn Apart is written by Hal Friedman in collaboration with his friend James Patterson, telling the story of Hal's son Cory. This is the emotional true story told through Cory's eyes of his battle with one of the most complex cases of Tourette's syndrome, anxiety disorder & OCD that doctors have seen. Cory was an ordinary boy until shortly before his fifth birthday, when motor tics, vocal tics, compulsions and obsessions turned his body into a "puppet on a string."

Sophia and Hal take a gut-wrenching journey with their son to find answers and treatment for their son's debilitating condition. Anyone who has experienced a medical condition that has medical practitioners baffled knows how heartbreaking and soul destroying this journey can be, but his parents heartache pales in comparison to Cory's living hell.

"My body is always betraying me, always, always, always."
"No one can imagine how horrible this is. Every single day, something bad happens to me." These are not the words of a child ranting in a tantrum; Cory's mental and physical suffering is shocking, he is hospitalised with torn muscles in his back from the sheer force of his physical tics, he requires dental work for broken teeth from unrelenting jaw spasms.

After 13 Doctors, 60 potent medications & varying combinations of medications failed to bring Cory any relief is it any wonder that in early high school Cory turned to alcohol to gain some much needed peace. The horrendous side effects suffered give credence to the old adage 'the cure is worse than the disease' and Cory gives us an insight into this in Torn Apart -
"I never know if it’s the medicine itself, the combination of medicines, the doses, or the usual ups and downs that happen with Tourettes."

This family's courage in sharing their story in the hope of inspiring others like Cory, raising awareness of neurological conditions and engaging support for Tourette's rather than ridicule, is nothing short of extraordinary. As a parent of a son with ADHD and anxiety disorder, diagnosed with Tourette's in Year 7 as a result of medication overload I shed tears over Cory's poignant story and more tears of heartfelt gratitude that my son's 'bird noises' and throat clearing was short-lived in comparison.

This is more than a story of a boy with Tourette's, it's a story of triumph over adversity, of a family's unconditional love, a story of strength, determination and the most unbelievable courage. This story touched me profoundly, it moved me to tears, tears of sadness and joy.

Please note the novels Torn Apart and Against Medical Advice are one and the same.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW! Gobsmacked, blown away Just MOVED.

This is a non fiction work from the effortlessly readable James Patterson. The story is of his friends son who had diabiltating sydrome.

Its 00.29 here in the Uk but i HAD to get this out now while it was fresh in my mind.

I am so moved and inspired by Cory and hia hardship.....

[Jenna Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an extremely moving story of a family's fight for their son. This young boy over the years has to endure extreme hardship just to make it through the days and nights of his life from age 5 onwards. Very moving.

[Michael Whyte · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing story of true grit, character and courage, along with a never say die attitude.

Some real sad points and some very happy moments, but generally the book is inspiring, and 100% worth the read.

[Walaa Shaaban · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a book that when you finish one chapter you want to go to the next nonstop.
I enjoyed seeing the world from Cory’s perspective
It’s really difficult to understand and manage to deal with a case like his.
It’s heartbreaking, he’s such a brave boy with great parents.

[Kirsty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I rarely read memoirs because I can’t stand the self-centred first person narratives, either woe-is-me or looking back through rose-tinted glasses on things they couldn’t possibly remember from childhood.

My dad gave me this to read and I was sceptical but the true horror or Cory’s experiences are so honestly portrayed by his father and James Patterson that I had to keep reading to make sure he made it out alright.

I don’t know much about the American healthcare system but the abandon with which a child was prescribed strong pharmaceuticals which clearly did not improve his conditions was truly shocking. I understand this happened in the early to mid nineties and I really hope that kids today don’t go through the same things at the hand of medical professionals, or experience the same social persecution because of things beyond their control.

The resilience of his family and kindness of the people in the education and healthcare systems who found him the help he needed are beautiful things.

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

This, at times, harrowing true life account is of one family's continual struggle through their daily lives. Soon after infancy, Cory develops the symptoms of tourettes syndrome and obsessive compulsive disorder simultaneously. The suffering and ridicule he endures because of this bring him to the depths of despair many times over during his growing years. Ultimately it is the love, compassion and understanding of his parents that carry him through the dark times of continual misdiagnosis and having numerous 'experts' use Cory as a guinea pig trialling of medicinal remedies for his desperate condition.

Thankfully this biographical account does conclude on an upbeat future for Cory and his family. A truly inspirational read.

[Bryan Devine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This piece of nonfiction really made me feel how difficult it must have been for this kid from the time he was six all the way up to high school. It also showed how at a loss his doctors were at treating his disorders. I found it interesting that he only started to really undergo a change when he was in the wilderness not taking all the medicine he had grown so accustomed to. I use to work at a wilderness camp similar to the one mentioned in this book so I found it enlightening that the camp was the first time he actually started really living. I recommend this book as a realistic account of one boy's struggles with controlling his body and trying his best to have a "normal" childhood.

[Blake · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like everyone else's reviews say, this was an incredibly moving, heartwrenching story to read, all the more so because it's real. It was absolutely a page turner. I couldn't put it down. Sometimes I found the writing too dramatic (the plain bare facts were incredible enough alone!) and the pace of the writing was almost too fast and episodic at times, zipping past important events with the bare minimum of detail and jumping here and there with loose ends and sudden shifts all over the place. But by the time I got to the end, I was so caught up in it all that I didn't really mind any of that.

[Vikki Crandall · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very eye opening. Cory's struggle to live a life that he had no choice to live, his gut wrenching challenges, his remarkable obstacles he tackled. I just wanted to reach through the book and give him a big hug several times. I also wanted to hug his mom. Being a mom is the toughest and best job ever, especially when you have a child that requires extra love and attention. They are all worth it though!!!

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't read a lot of Non-Fiction, but I would recommend this book to anyone. It is a heartbreaking, however inspiring story of a young boy who develops a rare combination of Tourette Syndrome, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Anxiety Disorder, and other neurological conditions. True discounts of the pain he experiences and how he triumphs in the end.

[Faye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow great read. I have worked with children with Tourettes however, I did not realse it could be this severe. Very sad though and to me the school were not always that supportive, hope things have changed in the last few years. Well worth the read.

[Roy McDine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful true story of a young man's triumph over Tourette's syndrome - brilliant and inspiring read.

[Gee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a true story of a child Cory who has tourettes, OCD, depression, anxiety and an alcohol addiction. It is about how he conquers life, achieves his goals and has the ability to overcome troubles and hard times. This book was very sad. The amount of medication he was on when he was a child is shocking, especially some of the doctors advice knowing it was making his tics and compulsions worse yet still upping a dose to 'see what happens'. I understand a lot of medication is trial and error, finding the right dose and combination for the right person as every is different but he was on so so many. Mixing and changing his brain and body chemistry constantly, dealing with side effects, making his tics unbearable. To deal with this he turned to drink and that became the best medicine he had as it made him feel low and stop all the energy and tics, thus he became addicted.
He couldn't go to school, he had shorter days. He became violet, aggressive, impulsive. He almost caused a major car accident and a house fire because of compulsions and carelessness due with his smoking.
One of my favourite things was seeing him go on the wilderness expedition. He was off all his medication, didn't smoke, drink or feel the need to tic as much. He did tic, have some intrusive thoughts but he didn't let that stop him. It forced him to carry on. He focused on the basic skills trying to eat, sleep, make a backpack, fire and survive alone with a team of people just like him. He went to hospitals for his care and a school. He came back did his junior year and smashed it with A's. He had an obsession with computers and as a high schooler did college courses and got credit. He graduated, went to college and is doing something in IT.
This story just shows that when you want to change and better yourself you can. I think it also shows how far the medical system has come and has hopefully changed and improved a lot since this time.
Seeing Cory go through everything he went through, he had a very tough childhood, little friends, felt very isolated and struggled to get an education. But through adulthood and growing up he found ways of coping. He did CBT, learnt ways to manage and control his anxiety, control some tics.
Reading those last few chapters I was holding my breath. Cory's tics calmed down and almost went away to a manageable state as he grew up. I think it's incredible after everything he and his family dealt with that he learnt control and deserves that success.
This book was very enjoyable and taught me a lot about a person with tourettes and OCD and what it is like in their head to HAVE to do something. A very interesting read.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have a lot to say about this. I fully believe that the author and the people involved had good intentions when sharing Cory's story. It's an inspiring story of his hardship with Tourette's and how he overcomes it, but it has too much of an "American dream" vibe. As someone with a movement disorder myself, I could relate to Cory a lot; especially with regards to finding the right doctor and medical treatment. So the first 2/3 of the book was good in sharing that experience. My problem is with the last 1/3 of the book and this is where I will include a spoiler warning:

**SPOILER WARNING**
Cory finally realizes that his way of life isn't working and is destructive, so he decides to allow his parents to do some drastic interventions. While I don't have any particular opinion on these interventions themselves, my problem comes with the timeline. He underwent these interventions in under a year (they refer to him missing a term at school) and he comes away from them seemingly completely cured of his Tourette's, OCD, and anxiety disorder. While many people will find this inspiring and like the happy ending, I can't help but wonder how it will affect those of us with movement disorders who don't have such an easy recovery. My parents read this book before me and I felt like it gave them hope. Which leads to my concern. Is this book setting an unrealistic standard for the rest of us? I personally felt annoyed that his recovery was so seamless when I've been working hard as well, with only about a 10% improvement in the last 6 months. And I do think many others will agree with me that this book may not set the right precedent, especially if your family members also read it. I know for a fact that mental health disorders alone don't have a quick fix like this and are much more complex to treat than is described in the last 1/3 of this book (I've known people who were admitted to psychiatric facilities for a month like Cory and who still battle with their disorder). Not to mention movement disorders which are mostly NOT psychological but a very real physical malfunction of the brain (since they mentioned Parkinson's disease so often, I would have thought they'd include some distinctions. Instead Tourette's is seemingly compared to Parkinson's). Many of us with movement disorders have to undergo months of physical therapy to relearn how to do basic things such as walking or to just maintain what functionality we have left (as in the case of Parkinson's disease), and I really don't feel like his recovery process was representative of what most people with both movement and psychiatric disorders have to go through to regain/maintain functionality.

[Oksana Serha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this figured out from the first couple of chapters. If medicine makes you feel worse, isn't it reasonable to give it up? I myself used to be a frequent visitor to hospital for some years and went through quite a similar procedure of changing doctors and pills in vain. The good thing about me was that my condition wasn't that serious and had nothing to do with neuropathology.

So, when conventional medicine proves useless, Cory gets saved by his inner strength. I wish there hadn't been a spoiler about his triumph over the illness right on the cover. It killed all my potential anxiety to learn the outcome.

I was afraid it'd be constant whining, but not even close. The story's brutal and straightforward. Brilliantly worded - considering the teller's a teenager.

I liked everything about the book, but it didn't touch me that much. Just an ordinary read for several lonely evenings. What it did to me was make me ponder over the limitless abilities of our brain. We control our life and fate more than we're willing to acknowledge.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 Stars

Torn Apart is the non-fiction story of a boy called Cory Friedman. One day, when Cory was around 5 years old, his body started to do unpredictable things, like shake his head or hop while walking. What happened, from here, was an 11 year battle to try and reclaim his body - a body that was letting him down the more help he received.

This isn't just the story of what Cory when through, although that would be harrowing enough to read, Cory also shows maturity above his years by acknowledging the trials and tribulations that his parents and sister went through - all in the bounds of trying to help him.

This is a beautifully written book - it's informative and factual and yet avoids being too maudlin. Hearing what Cory has had to go through and how he took control of his own health and drove improvements from the inside is both heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time. I wish him and his family all the best for the future - this is definitely a book that everyone should read to gain a new perspective on life.

[Madison · Rating 4 out of 5]

True stories are not something I would willingly go looking for to read, but this was on my shelf, it seemed like a short read, and I wanted something different.

The turmoil for emotions I went through reading this was surprising.

There were so many aspects that hit close to home. I have disabled siblings, so helping them, advocating for them, protecting them but also just being there for them and enjoying the positive moments as they come, can be rewarding but also exhausting. my hat goes off to his parents for all they went through and that they were still there for Cory through it all. and to his sister, even though she may have felt left out, invisible, even as a kid, she took to helping those with disabilities.

my heart aches for Cory. he is so strong for everything he went through. he held out when many would have given up.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story follows the life of Cory a boy born with Tourette syndrome. Through his ups and downs as a bot who just wants to be normal. Its very giod and interesting. It certsinly made me look at tourettes in a different light. Im going ti recomend this book to others in my readung circle.

As far as nonfiction goes o enjoyed this one. I don't know If it's my maturity or the content of the books but recently I'm finding non fiction books bearable. Like the last non fiction book I read it was not written by the person in the story. Which so far seems to be a good preset for if I'll like the book. This one was written James Patterson a household name in writting and I look fprwarreading more of his books in the future.

[Tyrone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cory Friedman. an exceptionally bright boy, starts showing signs of a rare form of Tourette's syndrome coupled with OCD and an anxiety disorder, at the tender age of 5. It is a truly powerful story of a boy (hero) who, with the support of his angel mother and his god-sent father, through all the trials and tribulations of this heart-breaking disease, becomes a success. It is a powerful story that shares a journey of hope, discovery and love.

[Ceri Bryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so good but heartbreaking at the same time. It follows a young boys called Cory and his battle to overcome extreme Tourette’s Syndrome as well as serious OCD issues and depression and severe anxiety. This is the worst case I’ve every heard of, the amount of medication he’s tried that hasn’t worked and the extreme ‘boot’ camps he endured to become ‘better’. Would thoroughly recommend this book to others

[Kelly Bond · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book and if you want to know anymore about Tourettes and how it really feels for both the person and his family.

It makes you feel so sad that we do not know anymore about the reasons behind it and how to stop it.

It is the first non fiction of James Patterson that i have read an i have throughly enjoyed it and hope to read more of them

[Joy Norman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well written and the son tells his story of having this terrible illness and what it has been like for him . He does realise what it is like for his family and they all struggle in their own way however he always knew he was loved. The book was a little bit like being n a roller coaster. A very moving biography and very well written

[Frances · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book gives such an incredible insight into the life of someone who is living with Tourette's Syndrome plus OCD. Cory Friedman's story is a difficult read and my admiration goes out to his parents. Without their unflinching devotion and support, I cannot imagine how he could survived the challenges he faced from such a young age.

[Teagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

i loved this book as a child growing up with my own mental health problems. i have read this book multiple times.
i highly recommend this book, it can be a confronting read at times but amazing to go into struggles.

[Kat Ashworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly inspirational story of Cory Friedman.

[Chris]

This book seems to be "Against Medical Advice" by the same authors with a different title.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

My stepdaughter has Tourette's so this was a good read for me and gave me insight to what goes on with people with this disease.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was employed as a teaching assistant to help an 11 year old boy who had Tourette's so found this a fascinating book.