#robert kolker

[haveyoureadthisbook-poll]

Have you read Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker (2020)?

yes

no

I've read parts of it

I've never heard of it

Voting ended onJul 25

[moviesframes]

Bad Education (2019)

Directed by Cory Finley

Cinematography by Lyle Vincent

[shitidoinmysparetime]

I listened to the audio version of Hidden Valley Road a few weeks ago and enjoyed it. The book is about the Galvin family, which was comprised of parents Don Sr. and Mimi and their 12 children--six of whom have schizophrenia.I had two major takeaways from this book. The first is that even though schizophrenia is basically like, the prototypical mental illness, we still don't actually understand it very well/at all. Despite over a hundred years of research on the subject, we're still very much in the dark about what schizophrenia is and how to treat it.

Part of this is--SHOCKINGLY--the fault of drug companies. Apparently they developed the two types of drugs that are used to treat schizophrenia back in the 1950s and have more or less just been riffing on them ever since. These drugs are largely just sedatives and cause such horrible side effects that two of the Galvin brothers DIED from them, but they're cheap and easy to make. So who cares, I guess?

My second takeaway is a little harsh, but kind of a duh: Don't have 12 children. A lot of what happened in the Galvin family happened because so many members of it were ill, but plenty of the dysfunction was due to the fact that there were too may children for the parents to effectively, you know, PARENT them. Both of the daughters were molested by multiple older siblings, something that happened because their parents' attention was so hopelessly divided. The Galvins clearly loved their kids and fought for them, but I couldn't help but think that I'd have been reading a very different story if there'd been, say, four Galvin kids instead of twelve.

Overall, a great read. I definitely recommend it.

[heyitsmartine]

01.03.21 - 5 books for my 2021 reading list

As a criminology student I already have many readings to do for class. During the school term, when I read just for my own entertainment it takes me awhile to finish a book. That’s why when I make a reading list it’s always so small. I really enjoy reading, it acts as a destresser for me by taking me to another place. I just wish that I could time manage better to read more. Anyways, here are 5 books I hope to finish by the end of 2021. 

1. Lost Girls by Robert Kolker

2. Mindhunter by John Douglas and Mark Olshaker 

3. Home Body by Rupi Kaur

4. A Simple Favor by Darcey Bell

5. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

If you have any book recommendations along similar genres please let me know!

- M

[book-warehouse-broadway]

We’re open for limited browsing! And yes, we’re still taking online orders and shipping, in case browsing still isn’t your thing.

Don’t know what to pick up first? Here are some of our top sellers from the last couple months!

[moviesframes]

Lost Girls (2020)

Directed by Liz Garbus

Cinematography by Igor Martinovic

[books-in-order]

Books of Robert Kolker in order

Robert Kolker is an American journalist and author. As an author he is best known for writing Lost Girls, a bestselling true crime book, and Hidden Valley Road, which was selected for Oprah’s Book Club.

Non-Fiction

Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery (2013) — Buy on Amazon!

Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family (2020) — Buy on Amazon!

[saygoodbyetothecanyon]

Em's 2025 Book Recap: June