by
Nathaniel Lachenmeyer
mentally ill people have lives beyond what we might ever hope to see."
--Newsday
"In a style reminiscent of Oliver Sacks, [Lachenmeyer] wonderfully evokes the pathetic
beauty of his father’s attempts to retain his dignity as he struggled with inner torments
and the indifference of others. Highly recommended."
--Library Journal
“Nathaniel Lachenmeyer, estranged from his [schizophrenic] father Charles since early
adolescence, engaged in detective work and countless personal interviews to trace his
father’s history. Many points in this history are heart wrenching, especially the great
divide between a father and son who loved each other. Nathaniel forges a last link with his
father [through] this extraordinary book, one of the best about schizophrenia to have
come out in recent years.”
--National Institute of Mental Health's Advocate publication
The Outsider is available from Broadway Books (ISBN: 0767901916). The revised paperback
edition is the recommended edition.
The Outsider is an unsentimental look at one family's experience with mental illness and
homelessness. Rich in imagery and poignant symbolism, and framed by the author's highly
personal dialogue with the reader, The Outsider is a suspenseful and moving account of a son's
search for the truth behind his father's haunted, solitary existence. It is a beautifully written
memoir of a father's fight to survive with dignity, and a son's struggle to know the father he lost
to schizophrenia long before he finally lost him to death.
The Outsider is a recipient of the Kenneth Johnson Memorial Research Library Book Award and
is the winner of the 2000 Bell of Hope Award, presented annually by the Mental Health
Association of Philadelphia to honor “significant and far-reaching contributions benefiting those
facing the challenge of mental illness.” The Outsider is required reading in psychology and
sociology classes at universities around the country. The Outsider has been translated into
Chinese and Swedish, and has been published in five countries.
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