This is the story of a very confused young man who grew up in a volatile home, was guided by music, witnessed the downfall of Detroit and set out to find his muse. Along the way, he made some discoveries about the world and himself, barely survived many situations and lived to tell the tale. The book covers my life from birth to age twenty and sets the stage for books two through five. Nobody Cares Who You Areis a journey of the mind, body and soul. -Larry Acquaviva
Witty and painfully honest essays about perfection vs. reality: “Hilarious…[an] incredibly distinctive voice.” —Emma Gannon, bestselling author of Olive From the author of the popular newsletter That’s What She Said, Nobody Cares is a candid personal essay collection about work, failure, friendship, and the messy business of being alive in your twenties and thirties. As she shares her hard-won insights from screwing up, growing up, and trying to find her own path, Anne T. Donahue offers all the honesty, laughs, and reassurance of a late-night phone call with your best friend. Whether she’s giving a signature pep talk, railing against summer, or describing her own mental health struggles, Anne reminds us that failure is normal, saying no to things is liberating, and we’re all a bunch of beautiful disasters—and she wouldn’t have it any other way. “Her essays about the less photogenic moments of her life contain their own sort of beauty, the kind that comes from failing and persevering. From breaking down her anxiety disorder to getting in touch with helpful and well-deserved female rage, Donahue is as inspiring as she is droll.” ―Vulture “Frank, funny, observations.” —Cosmopolitan “I don’t know how anyone could read her and not immediately fall in love.” —Scaachi Koul, author of One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter
"My experience hitchhiking proved to me that out in that big, bad world, when you don't have two nickels to rub together at times, when you become a shadow in the midst of a sea of humanity, when you understand that you are merely a speck of dust on the side of a forgotten highway, that sometimes, nobody cares who you are. It was a powerful lesson in humility, and truth, about who I truly was, and what this world is really all about. This is what I found as I blazed across the country like a mad man on the loose." -- Larry Acquaviva
Nobody cares who you are; it was a sentiment I became all too familiar with as I was growing up. It's what the city of Detroit was all about. But by the time I met the boys of Widespread Panic in October of 1987, I didn't give a damn that nobody cared who I was. By then, I had found the music, and a group of boys who were about to show me just how powerful that music could be. From that point forward, the only thing I cared about was living, breathing, and sleeping with the sound. And the boys of Widespread Panic showed me exactly how to do that.
New York Times-bestselling author Ron Powers offers a searching, richly researched narrative of the social history of mental illness in America paired with the deeply personal story of his two sons' battles with schizophrenia. From the centuries of torture of "lunatiks" at Bedlam Asylum to the infamous eugenics era to the follies of the anti-psychiatry movement to the current landscape in which too many families struggle alone to manage afflicted love ones, Powers limns our fears and myths about mental illness and the fractured public policies that have resulted. Braided with that history is the moving story of Powers's beloved son Kevin -- spirited, endearing, and gifted -- who triumphed even while suffering from schizophrenia until finally he did not, and the story of his courageous surviving son Dean, who is also schizophrenic. A blend of history, biography, memoir, and current affairs ending with a consideration of where we might go from here, this is a thought-provoking look at a dreaded illness that has long been misunderstood. "Extraordinary and courageous . . . No doubt if everyone were to read this book, the world would change." -- New York Times Book Review
This book is a personal testimonial to my teaching theory which has served me well over the past 30 years. It is a composite of psychological knowledge, theoretical pedagogy, personal experiences as a military instructor, and many experiences in Corporate America. A student told me many years ago you need to write all of this down and save it. So here goes!
