Is There No Place on Earth for Me?

By: Susan Sheehan

Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith, Kate Reading

This renowned journalist's classic Pulitzer Prize winning investigation of schizophrenia - now reissued with a new postscript - follows a flamboyant and fiercely intelligent young woman as she struggles in the throes of mental illness.

"Sylvia Frumkin" was born in 1948 and began showing signs of schizophrenia in her teens. She spent the next seventeen years in and out of mental institutions. In 1978, reporter Susan Sheehan took an interest in her and, for more than two years, became immersed in her life: Talking with her, listening to her monologues, sitting in on consultations with doctors - even, for a period, sleeping in the bed next to her in a psychiatric center.

With Sheehan, we become witness to Sylvia's plight: Her psychotic episodes, the medical struggle to control her symptoms, and the overburdened hospitals that, more often than not, she was obliged to call home. The resulting book, first published in 1982, was hailed as an extraordinary achievement: Harrowing, humanizing, moving, and bitingly funny. Now, some two decades later, Is There No Place on Earth for Me continues to set the standard for accounts of mental illness.

©1982 Susan Sheehan; Foreword by Robert Coles (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Great book too long

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Yes it was for the most part. Very interesting.

Would you recommend Is There No Place on Earth for Me? to your friends? Why or why not?

Probably depending on the friend

Which scene was your favorite?

My favorite were when Sylvia seemed very "normal". She was extremely bright.

Could you see Is There No Place on Earth for Me? being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Can't stand this question

Any additional comments?

While this is a great book, it could have been much shorter. Way too much repetition. Also, her family was horrible to her! I'm sure it had to be extremely difficult for them, but the comments they'd make to Sylvia were just cruel.

I have schizoaffective disorder; depression type

this book gave me some perspective of things that are possible to come and for that I thank you for this book. However it is also excellent in its own right regardless of my personal standing. I would definitely recommend this to other people, especially people with schizophrenia

curiously intetesting

I feel for all the family and am troubled by the lack of attention to her details by professionals, although they are sorely overworked.

very interesting and insightful!

Narration was great! I have a new perspective on mental illness, as I deal with a vast cross section of the population, and have gained more empathy. I drive a Greyhound bus and see it often.

Is there no place on earth for me ?

A wonderful book , written in love and illustrating the real picture of mental the anguish of a schizophrenic person Very real and beautifully written .

Sad But True

What made the experience of listening to Is There No Place on Earth for Me? the most enjoyable?

I found the author's understanding of the mental health system for young people in America very enlightening. I was amazed by the number of drugs tried by sufferers of mental illnesses and the fact that Drs. do not understand how the drugs effect each patient differently. This is an eye opening study of painful life one human who tried hard to fit in but could never please herself or others. She was a lost soul who kept searching for the cure to her diseased brain.

What did you like best about this story?

I like the fact that her sister stood by her through out her illness and tried to understand and love her in spite of her strange, childish, and often violent behavior.

Have you listened to any of Kaleo Griffith and Kate Reading ’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have listen to Kate Reading before and I think she is a very good reader. She did an outstanding job conveying the pain of the main character of this biographical study of a mentally ill young American.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, I wanted to learn if the Drs. ever found the medication(s) that could keep this bright women from self destruction and other psychotic behaviors.

Any additional comments?

An eye opening true story of the failures of modern medicine to help the mentally ill young people living among us try to exhibit "normal" behavior patterns. As we learn about the number of youth who are mentally ill. We all need to listen to this book to truly understand their frustration with the mental health system in the U.S.

good enough story.. way to long though.

really struggled to finish it, the narrator had such a monotone, I would literally fall asleep! also repeated things so many times.

Thank you for being a friend to Sylvia

The reality of this book made it hard to finish. My son is schizoaffective and it's sadly familiar. I can find no place on earth for him either. I appreciate the honesty.

My favorite book!

I read Is There No Place on Earth for Me? decades ago, not long after Maxine Mason passed away. The first time I read it, I simple couldn't put it down and became absorbed with the storyline, It stayed with me for years. The way Sheehan wrote made you feel as though you personally knew Sylvia, and had been observing her on your own throughout your life. At that time Sheehan hadn't added the edition to her where she discussed the life and death of Maxine Mason after the book was published, and how she stayed in touch with her. I wasn't aware that Sylvia Frumpkin was a pseudonym for the real person, as well as the names Harriot, Irving and Joyce, all as a means to protect identities of Maxine and her family, but I am so thankful I recently listened to this audiobook and got a fuller picture of their lives.

I am easily drawn in by Sheehan and her writing style. It is instantly engaging from the first sentence. It is as if she's right there, having a conversation with you face to face. She has a way of using JUST enough detail, that it creates a mental image of the entire scene, and you do feel like you're in the same room to the point you can imagine the sounds, colors, smells, images, conversations, time of day, and voices fully. Sheehan doesn't lack in her ability to pain a perfect mental image to her storylines.

It was so intriguing to me that I decided to research Creedmoor on my own, and learn about the history and how it's operating today. I think the story Sheehan tells of Maxine Mason is important, and I appreciate that it wasn't lost to the world. There is a reason why this book is read in many psychology classes and studied. It puts the reader right there, directly in the center of a devastating mental illness, from a perspective that removes the drab and black and white clinical description, and takes it a real life level. Even being accountable for how the main character's behavior affected those around here in everyday settings, such as shops and restaurants. I think every reader will feel a personal connection with Maxine Mason, and feel as though they gained a better understanding of what mental illness, and a life in and out of mental hospitals, while struggling every single day with a disorder such as schizophrenia is really like.

good historical perspective

I found the book interesting especially since it contains a lot of information from the 60s and 70s and mental health practices