Gracefully Insane

The Rise and Fall of America's Premier Mental Hospital

By: Alex Beam

Write A Review

Paperback | 1 January 2003 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback
296 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
1.7 x 13.9 x 21

Paperback

$46.75

or 4 interest-free payments of $11.69 with

Ships in 10 to 15 business days

Its landscaped ground, chosen by Frederick Law Olmsted and dotted with Tudor mansions, could belong to a New England prep school. There are no fences, no guards, no locked gates. But McLean Hospital is a mental institution-one of the most famous, most elite, and once most luxurious in America. McLean "alumni" include Olmsted himself, Robert Lowell, Sylvia Plath, James Taylor and Ray Charles, as well as (more secretly) other notables from among the rich and famous. In its "golden age," McLean provided as genteel an environment for the treatment of mental illness as one could imagine. But the golden age is over, and a downsized, downscale McLean-despite its affiliation with Harvard University-is struggling to stay afloat. Gracefully Insane, by Boston Globe columnist Alex Beam, is a fascinating and emotional biography of McLean Hospital from its founding in 1817 through today. It is filled with stories about patients and doctors: the Ralph Waldo Emerson prot'g' whose brilliance disappeared along with his madness; Anne Sexton's poetry seminar, and many more. The story of McLean is also the story of the hopes and failures of psychology and psychotherapy; of the evolution of attitudes about mental illness, of approaches to treatment, and of the economic pressures that are making McLean-and other institutions like it-relics of a bygone age.

This is a compelling and often oddly poignant reading for fans of books like Plath's The Bell Jar and Susanna Kaysen's Girl, Interrupted (both inspired by their author's stays at McLean) and for anyone interested in the history of medicine or psychotherapy, or the social history of New England.

Shipping

	Standard Shipping	Express Shipping
Metro postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Regional postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Rural postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95

How to return your order

At Booktopia, we offer hassle-free returns in accordance with our returns policy. If you wish to return an item, please get in touch with Booktopia Customer Care.

Additional postage charges may be applicable.

Defective items

If there is a problem with any of the items received for your order then the Booktopia Customer Care team is ready to assist you.

For more info please visit our Help Centre.

You Can Find This Book In

Non-Fiction Psychology Abnormal Psychology Medicine Medicine in General History of Medicine Health Systems & Services Mental Health Services Other Branches of Medicine Clinical Psychology History

A Visit to the Museum of the Cures	p. 1
By the Best People, for the Best People	p. 17
The Mayflower Screwballs	p. 35
The Country Clubbers	p. 49
The Search for the Cure	p. 73
The Talk Cure: Freud and Man at Mclean	p. 93
Welcome to the Twentieth Century	p. 117
The Mad Poets' Society	p. 145
Staying On: The Elders from Planet Upham	p. 169
Diagnosis: "Hippiephrenia"	p. 191
Physician, Heal Thyself	p. 217
Life Goes On	p. 233
Acknowledgments	p. 245
Notes on Sources	p. 249
Index	p. 257
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.

Gracefully Insane

The Rise and Fall of America's Premier Mental Hospital

At a Glance

Paperback

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

More in History

Waves of Plenty

Immigration and the Making of Australia

Old Vintage Melbourne, a culinary chronicle

Fighting for Country

The extraordinary life of Reg Saunders, Australia's first Indigenous military officer, hero of two wars

Don't Say Palestine

How the Media Manufactured Consent for Genocide

Betrayal

Trump, Putin and The New Age of Conquest

A History of the World in 51 Heroes and Villains

The rip-roaring new book from the hosts of The Rest is History

A Suitable Man

The Eccentric Empire of Fletcher Jones

Queens and Kings

An Unusually Personal History

Redwood

The Untold Story of the Cold War's Most Extraordinary Spy

The Cauldron

The Making of the Modern Middle East - The No.1 Sunday Times Bestseller

Profits, Prophets, Coaches and Kings

(When) Do Leaders Make a Difference?

The Counterrevolution

The Fall and Rise of Donald Trump and the MAGA Movement

The Revolutionists

The Story of the Extremists Who Hijacked the 1970s

Italian Folklore

Rituals, Celebrations, and Ancient Traditions

The Golden Menhir

An Illustrated Asterix Album

The Finest Hotel in Kabul

WOMEN'S NON FICTION PRIZE 2026 WINNER - A People's History of Afghanistan

PIX

The Magazine That Told Australia's Story

Nuclear Archipelago

Secrets, Power and the Biggest Atomic Blast in Australia

The Most Interesting People You've Never Heard Of

Matthew Flinders

A definitive and indisputable history of the man who mapped Australia

My Place: Young Readers Edition

An abridged edition of the award-winning Australian classic

The Burning Blue

Stories of the Navy's warriors in the skies

Major Hashida's Notebook

A Japanese spy's mission to Australia in World War II

Great Australian Bush Festival Stories

Weird, wacky & wonderful tales from the heart of Australia

This product is categorised by