My Lobotomy

A Memoir

By: Howard Dully, Charles Fleming

Narrated by: Johnny Heller

A gut-wrenching memoir by a man who was lobotomized at the age of 12.

Assisted by journalist/novelist Charles Fleming, Howard Dully recounts a family tragedy whose Sophoclean proportions he could only sketch in his powerful 2005 broadcast on NPR's All Things Considered.

"In 1960," he writes, "I was given a transorbital, or 'ice pick' lobotomy. My stepmother arranged it. My father agreed to it. Dr. Walter Freeman, the father of the American lobotomy, told me he was going to do some 'tests'. It took 10 minutes and cost 200 dollars."

Fellow doctors called Freeman's technique barbaric: an ice pick¿like instrument was inserted about three inches into each eye socket and twirled to sever connections from the frontal lobe to the rest of the brain. The procedure was intended to help curb a variety of psychoses by muting emotional responses, but sometimes it irreversibly reduced patients to a childlike state or (in 15 percent of the operations Freeman performed) killed them outright. Dully's 10-minute "test" did neither, but in some ways it had a far crueler result, since it didn't end the unruly behavior that had set his stepmother against him to begin with.

"I spent the next 40 years in and out of insane asylums, jails, and halfway houses," he tells us. "I was homeless, alcoholic, and drug-addicted. I was lost."

From all accounts, there was no excuse for the lobotomy. Dully had never been "crazy", and his (not very) bad behavior sounds like the typical acting-up of a child in desperate need of affection. His stepmother responded with unrelenting abuse and neglect, and his father allowed her to demonize his son and never admitted his complicity in the lobotomy; Freeman capitalized on their monumental dysfunction. It's a tale of epic horror, and while Dully's courage in telling it inspires awe, listeners are left to speculate about what drove supposedly responsible adults to such unconscionable acts.

©2007 Howard Dully and Charles Fleming (P)2007 Tantor Media Inc.

Critic reviews

"Brutally honest....Truly stunning." ( Publishers Weekly)
"Gut wrenching....It's a tale of epic horror, and while Dully's courage in telling it inspires awe, readers are left to speculate about what drove supposedly responsible adults to such unconscionable acts. A profoundly disturbing survivor's tale." ( Kirkus)

Child Abuse at the Higest Level

Where does My Lobotomy rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It is in the top 20.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Howard Dully, because he is the author and he was subjected to horrid treatment by his step-mother. In addition, his imbecile of a father remained indifferent to Howard's inhumane treatment and condition,

What does Johnny Heller bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I enjoy listening to audio books, a good narrator can bring the story to life.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

It was poignant when Howard was dumped in the hospital and had to face his barbaric ordeal all alone.

Any additional comments?

Howard's step-mother made Cinderella step-mother look like Mother Theresa. In addition, Cinderella was a fairy tale, this story was real life.

An incredibly powerful and emotional, true story

I would recommend this book to not just those interested in the story of the infamous labotomy, but anyone who feels like they are being held back in life because they are victim of a bad past.

Enlightening

A must read for anyone has compassion for the human race. Enjoyably sad, Eye opening, inspiring and very sincere memoir

Long time coming for this book

I heard the NPR interview with the main person in this book Howard Dully back in 2005 or 2006. I'm not sure of the year even though Mr.Dully spelled it out but I'll never forgot the story I couldn't remember the title but I knew the subject, so I finally took the opportunity through audible and found it. I am so happy I had the chance to complete the story that has had me intrigued for so long. I feel that the issues that Mr.Dully faced and had to endure were the result of a vindictive spiteful mean spirited woman who I feel is or was a true danger to society. Howard's experiences described in this book are the kind of things that just make a person thankful that my own disfunctions were not dealt with in any manner close to trans-orbital lobotomy or institutionalizations. I consider myself lucky to have heard this story and this has also made me appreciate my own parents and life all the more. Thank you for making this surprisingly well written book which is much like a biography.
I grew up less than a mile or a few miles from 3 major psychiatric facilities on Long Island and the subject of mental illness or the treatment of such has always caught my attention. Best wishes to Mr. Howard Dully and thank you

amazing story of victory over challenge.

loved it narrator was so real you might have thought it was Howard himself talking. and the epilogue has a message of empowerment for all of us.

LOVED IT

I loved it. it was so sad to hear about all the struggles this young boy went through. The hurt and pain he went through as a man realizing that his own father didnt care what had been done to him. Just gut wrenching.

Great book! Very well written and well read.

touching

I'm torn. I wish this story was fiction so I could love it. it's the story of a crime that was committed by an ego maniac in the name of medicine told by the man who survived it. i just wish I could give him a hug

Better than most...

books of this genre. A powerful and mostly unbiased account of the life of a man who was lobotomized when he was only 12 years old by Walter Freeman, the father of the worst "medical treatment" in the history of quackery. We are also reminded at the end of the book that we have not come so very far from the 1950's as we think, declaring that "difficult" children are bi-polar or ADHD (in the 1950's, "schizophrenia" was the catch-phrase for hard to handle kids) and filling them full of pills, giving them a "chemical lobotomy." The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Fantastic

Love the story very interesting in the history and information that was given. I grew up around people that were mistreated at a young age that had lasting effects for the rest of their life and this book touched me in ways others hadn't.

Freeman's Folly

For an hour or so, this personal tragedy irritated me and made me feel uncomfortable. However, what at first seems like dishonesty soon reveals itelf to be an entirely truthful and extremely upsetting study of ugliness not so far removed.

The author deals with questions and pain that thankfully most of us have never had to ponder. He reveals himself to be no better or worse than most of us. From his personal tragedy we can learn to be kinder, better people.

I recommend this book for anyone not afraid to plum the depths of emotion and the troubled mind.