My Lobotomy

By Howard Dully and Charles Fleming

Book Overview

At twelve, Howard Dully was guilty of the same crimes as other boys his age: he was moody and messy, rambunctious with his brothers, contrary just to prove a point, and perpetually at odds with his parents. Yet somehow, this normal boy became one of the youngest people on whom Dr. Walter Freeman performed his barbaric transorbital-or ice pick-lobotomy. Abandoned by his family within a year of the surgery, Howard spent his teen years in mental institutions, his twenties in jail, and his thirties in a bottle. It wasn't until he was in his forties that Howard began to pull his life together. But even as he began to live the "normal" life he had been denied, Howard struggled with one question: Why? "October 8, 1960. I gather that Mrs. Dully is perpetually talking, admonishing, correcting, and getting worked up into a spasm, whereas her husband is impatient, explosive, rather brutal, won't let the boy speak for himself, and calls him numbskull, dimwit, and other uncomplimentary names." There were only three people who would know the truth: Freeman, the man who performed the procedure; Lou, his cold and demanding stepmother who brought Howard to the doctor's attention; and his father, Rodney. Of the three, only Rodney, the man who hadn't intervened on his son's behalf, was still living. Time was running out. Stable and happy for the first time in decades, Howard began to search for answers. "December 3, 1960. Mr. and Mrs. Dully have apparently decided to have Howard operated on. I suggested [they] not tell Howard anything about it." Through his research, Howard met other lobotomy patients and their families, talked with one of Freeman's sons about his father's controversial life's work, and confronted Rodney about his complicity. And, in the archive where the doctor's files are stored, he finally came face to face with the truth. Revealing what happened to a child no one-not his father, not the medical community, not the state-was willing to protect, My Lobotomy exposes a shameful chapter in the history of the treatment of mental illness. Yet, ultimately, this is a powerful and moving chronicle of the life of one man. Without reticence, Howard Dully shares the story of a painfully dysfunctional childhood, a misspent youth, his struggle to claim the life that was taken from him, and his redemption.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0307381269
• ISBN13: 9780307381262
• Release Date: September 2007
• Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (NY)
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.96 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.9" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Inside the mind of a kid with a lobotomy!

This book gives you good insight from a kid's perspective. It is chilling how step-parents/parents can ruin a young child's childhood. How innocence is lost. Good read, couldn't put it down! Glad the gentleman in this case became an advocate for this atrocity.

Omg

This is an amazing story about a person who could have been any one of us. Parental control found it's way to a 'doctor' with an agenda. The rest of the story can be anyone's guess. This person made it in the end and created this riveting true story. A hard to put down book!

A brave child and phenominal man...

As a child psychotherapist I work with children who are emotionally disturbed in a special school. I often see how some children fall between the cracks in society and really have noone to pull them out, even clinical social workers as myself. It can be disheartening at times. This memior gives anyone who deals with struggles an opportunity to read about the true feelings of a (I feel) neglected child, and then what became a successful man through his journey after being the victim of a horrific surgery. I am sorry that Howard Dully didn't have someone to pull for him. However, I think that due to this memior more people will open their eyes about how children were treated with behavioral issues back then and how they are treated now. What a riviting look at mental illness. A great read and I encourage Howard to continue writing.

Boy, Interrupted

I read this book in one 6-hour sitting. It's real, riveting, and heart-wrenching. Howard Dully didn't stand a chance against the odds he faced. The fact that he found the courage to ask the hard question~ Why? ~speaks highly of his nature and spirit. I recommend this book to anyone struggling with the issues of childhood and trying to come to terms with what it all means.

A Painful Read but Worth It

I read a review of this book in my local paper. What prompted me to buy it was the outrage of all those who heard Mr. Dully on NPR, causing their website to crash. Not hearing his intereview, I knew I had to read "his story." While ultimately one rejoices with Mr. Dully, this is such a painful book to read. One will surely feel outrage towards all those who were involved with the horrors perpetrated against Dully. Not only a powerful memoir on how people can rise above even the worst scenarios and the indomitability of the human spirit, this book gives a small window into what can happen when "agencies," and other "institutions" come into the fray and take over, and how one's life can be so diabolically altered by just one professional's own bizarre beliefs. This book will also give one a whole new appreciation for anyone labeled "mentally ill" or "mentally unstable." This reader hopes Dr. Freeman is rotting in hell.