
My Lobotomy
A Memoir
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Narrated by:
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Johnny Heller
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.Listeners also enjoyed...




















Editorial reviews
Narrator Johnny Heller portrays a man recounting his distant and incomplete memories of a dysfunctional home with parents who abused him. In the opening chapters he speaks as the young boy, telling what behavior led his parents, in 1960, to have a quack doctor scramble his brain with an ice pick at age 12. Later Heller's sandy, mature voice becomes the teenager describing a troubled life, in and out of institutions and jails. Heller's expression fits the author's sad struggle to grow up after suffering parental and neural damage. He depicts no strong emotion until the last, when he assumes Dully's indignation at the discovery of the lies his stepmother told the surgeon to justify the destruction of his frontal lobes.
Critic reviews
"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)
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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.Child Abuse at the Higest Level
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An incredibly powerful and emotional, true story
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Enlightening
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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
Long time coming for this book
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amazing story of victory over challenge.
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Great book! Very well written and well read.
LOVED IT
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touching
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Better than most...
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Fantastic
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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.
Freeman's Folly
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