Synopses & Reviews
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
Julie Holland thought she knew what crazy was. Then she came to Bellevue. For nine eventful years, Dr. Holland was the weekend physician in charge of the psychiatric emergency room at New York City’s Bellevue Hospital. In this absorbing memoir, Holland recounts stories from her vast case files that are alternately terrifying, tragically comic, and profoundly moving: the serial killer, the naked man barking like a dog in Times Square, the schizophrenic begging for an injection of club soda to quiet the voices in his head, the subway conductor who watched a young woman pushed into the path of his train.
Writing with uncommon candor, Holland supplies not only a page-turner with all the fast-paced immediacy of a TV medical drama but also a fascinating glimpse into the inner lives of doctors who struggle to maintain perspective in a world where sanity is in the eye of the beholder.
Synopsis
In an absorbing memoir laced with humor, Dr. Holland provides an unvarnished look at life in the psych ER of New York's Bellevue Hospital, recounting stories from her vast case files that are alternately terrifying, tragically comic, and profoundly moving.
About the Author
Julie Holland, M.D., is a psychiatrist specializing in psychopharmacology. An assistant professor of psychiatry at NYU School of Medicine, she spent her weekends running the psychiatric emergency room at Bellevue Hospital for nine years. She is the editor of
Ecstasy: The Complete Guide-A Comprehensive Look at the Risks and Benefits of MDMA. She lectures widely and has been quoted in
Time, Harpers, Slate, the
Los Angeles Times, and
The Wall Street Journal. Holland has appeared as a medical expert regarding mental illness and drug use on numerous television shows, including
Today and
Good Morning America. She runs a private practice in New York City and lives with her husband and two children in the Hudson Valley.
From the Hardcover edition.