Imagine Me Gone

The forms he uses for Michael's perspective are inventive, but I felt like what he had to say about mental illness just didn't match with my beliefs (and I have been exposed to much of that world personally). That doesn't mean that it won't line up with yours, so give it a try. Haslett was a participant in the Iowa's Writer Workshop and he is a good writer, just not my cup of tea.

Perhaps had I more knowledge of the kind of music that is discussed at much length within these
Pages I would have enjoyed the book more. That said this story of mental illness does touch one's heart.

It's just plain boring...the 4 main characters are very poorly developed, the reader cannot identify with any of them in this dysfunctional family, so too with the secondary characters. Whatever plot there may be (the slow progress of severe depression in a family) is presented through conversations and flashbacks, all of which appear artificially constructed, forced and unnatural, so much so that the author appears to be writing for the theater or, worse, for a TV soap opera. Depression is a serious illness but this does not give the author the right to depress the hell out of his readers. It takes several hundred pages of sheer banal writing before the author arrives at the last few pages and finally displays some excellent prose where, in the denouement, he reveals that we are all but vehicles or shells housing an invisible, misunderstood spirit, hence the conflicts in every family relationship....a trite, gimmicky and wholly unsatisfactory ending for the author to quickly explain away a serious medical condition.

On the surface, a story about loss told in vignettes by different family members. But once you've read it, you realize it's actually a love story. The story of a family's love while dealing with loss and forgiveness. A universal story told with dark humor and tears in breathtakingly beautiful language. It makes no explanation for the causes of mental illness nor how they are best treated. However, it does raise questions of the current accepted drug therapies and their impact on the quality of life of both the patient and those around them. All writing teachers and students need to read this to see how beautifully a story can be told.

Ready to read about another DYSFUNCTIONAL family. Personally I'm sick of them. Let's hear it for struggling real people. Not a bunch of totally selfish sluggish nerds with runaway egos--disguised as mentally ill but in fact just morally incompetent. The editorial taste in New York just loves to wallow in the muck of do-nothings plagued by disguised self-hatred, which is nothing more than excuse for life on their terms or no other. "I want it for nothing down and put whipped cream on it while you're at it and then watch me smear it on the reader because he or she doesn't love me"--HOW PATHETIC CAN YOU GET. These lost souls are totally boring because the voice on their GPS is their own.

I tried so hard to get into this book, but when I finally hit the halfway mark and still wasn't AT ALL hooked, I decided to call it a day! Although there were (few) funny moments, I found myself wanting to skim through the never-ending chapters of the main character! Someone described the book as "Michael’s chapters are avalanches of language, deluded and exhausting chronicles"... I couldn't describe it better! ?

Another badly contrived yarn about family suffering behind a member's oddness and disability. It's just not interesting to this reader because it contains neither talented writing or worthy story content.

Didn't bother to finish this book. Although the language was well-crafted, showing the good work of a competent editor, the author's tendency to pretentious vocabulary comes across as prissy. It's like reading one of those postmodern "peer-reviewed" papers in lit-crit that seeks to appear intelligent (while saying really stupid things) using ridiculously rare and archaic vocabulary. Obviously, that "trope" rubbed off on this author.

Basically, it's a tale about a family afflicted with a manic-depressive parent. Yawn. I'm not sure why so-called "Progressive" writers feel compelled to wallow in angst. Dr Fraud [sic] would be so pleased.

But, if vocabu-twerking and psychobabble are your thing, by all means put your money down. Thankfully, I bought this dog for a buck ninety-nine off the the store Prime remainders table. Pity my copy is digital. Its true calling is the composting barrel.

We hardly ever get to see an up close look at depression romanticized in as beautifully naked a way as in Imagine Me Gone. This is the story of a family whose dynamic seems to be written in the stars before they even come together and how they navigate the encompassing depression of John and later on Michael, the eldest child. The family interplay was what attracted me to this book in the first place. I wanted a perspective on how an entire origin family copes with a sinking, progressive illness.

Margaret and John find each other at a party and just as they are about to be married, John’s debilitating mental state flares and claims the unprepared Margaret as its accomplice. They have three children, Michael, Celia, and Alec. Each chapter is told in the alternating voices of Margaret and her three children. Michael suffers from the same affliction as his father and it is long held within the family as each member defines his and her role and ways of coping. Michael himself pens the loudest chapters with a riot of color and confusion so expertly woven as to give a real sense of the insane cocktail of drugs he has taken for many years.

As the years go by Margaret, Celia, and Alec become cemented in their stance on the best way to deal with Michael’s illness and Michael’s full awareness of his tenuous hold on reality, the climax occurs with Michael and Alec sharing an isolated wooded cabin in a last ditch attempt to wean Michael off the drugs that have since laid claim to his existence. After reading this chapter loop back around and reread the first. It will all make sense.

This was not an easy read but there were scenes of pure brilliance that I will remember long after reading this story. It is a profoundly sad one but not without its triumphs. It is worth the time. Definitely recommended.

BRB Rating: Read It

This novel started out so promising. I loved the first 30% of the book so much that I recommended it to my (fortunately, adult) daughter. As I read on, the story bogged down with details of erratic behavior, anti depressant drugs, obscure (to me) references to music and explicit homosexual behavior.

What would it take for you to end your life? A psychiatric disorder, a family history of suicide, drug dependency, financial problems, social isolation? What about a combination of all of the above? If you had suicidal impulses and sought, without lasting relief, to overcome them with therapy, pharmaceutical drugs, and the support of family and friends, how long would you suffer? These are the questions I asked myself after reading Adam Haslett’s second novel, Imagine Me Gone.

Imagine Me Gone is a story about a family besieged by mental illness. After a protracted struggle with chronic depression, John, the family patriarch, commits suicide. His wife Margaret, and their children Michael, Celia, and Alec are haunted by his death long after he ends his life. In this stirring narrative which spans decades, Haslett captures the anguish of the suicidal as well as the overwhelming burdens their loved-ones bear.

The story is told from the perspectives of each family member, but Michael, the oldest child, who may have been genetically predisposed to the same depression and anxiety his father fought against, is the central character. Like his father, he wrestles with the crushing pressures of debt and unfulfilled potential. He is an endearing character whose intelligence and wit make his debilitating inner turmoil all the more tragic. During an excruciating attempt to wean himself off of the prescription medications that kept him afloat for many years, he tells his younger brother Alec, “There’s an ethical limit to what anyone should have to endure,” and for the first time, I agreed.

Haslett’s tale of family struggle takes the reader on an in-depth tour of a tormented mind with a clarity and tenderness that left me transformed. Prior to reading this novel, with the exception of those who suffered from a painful terminal illness, I considered suicide a selfish act of escape that burdened survivors. Regardless of the intensity and longevity of the emotional pain someone might have experienced, I expected them to forge ahead. Imagine Me Gone expanded my empathy for the chronically depressed and opened my eyes to the limits of love, therapy, and medication to provide a lasting cure. It reminded me of how precious the people with whom we share our lives are and how important it is to love them in their greatest moments of vulnerability for who they are, not who we want them to be.

This is by no means a light or uplifting novel, but I tend to agree with Franz Kafka, who asked, “If the book we’re reading doesn’t wake us up with a blow on the head, what are we reading it for?” Kafka, believed that a book was worth reading only if it hurt, that books should “wound and stab us,” that they should “affect us like a disaster … like a suicide.” Imagine Me Gone, is such a book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown, and Company for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.

Mental illness can be a difficult topic to discuss. In his novel Imagine Me Gone, Adam Haslet attempts to grapple with the subject. He tells the story of a family who deals with the mental illness of their patriarch early on. When Margaret made the decision to marry John, she was aware of his depression. The novel follows the effects of John's struggles with depression and the way those difficulties impact his entire family.

Haslet provides insight into each member of the family's unique reaction to mental illness by having each chapter alternate perspective to that of a different character. This approach can be illuminating at times while creating a distance between reader and character at others. I found the chapters about the mother and sisters to be particularly effective. They attempt to create some kind of normalcy within a family that is riddled with the uncertainty that mental illness can bring.

Where the novel lost me was in the chapters of one brother in particular, Michael. Like his father, Michael suffers from mental illness that makes his chapters nearly impossible to comprehend. He has a particular obsession with music that was endearing at first. It was a way to form some kind of connection. Unfortunately, he seems to deteriorate over time, making his chapters more and more confusing and hard to connect with.

While I think this is an intentional tool for Haslet to demonstrate the troubled mind of a man with severe mental illness, it makes for a book that is often difficult to follow. I have a very mixed reaction to this book because of that. On the one hand, I appreciate how Haslet uses Michael to help the reader understand the other family member's challenge of dealing with a loved one with mental illness. On the other hand, these portions were so uncomfortable to read that I nearly stopped reading the book all together. Imagine Me Gone is as brilliantly conceived as it is frustrating to digest. I can appreciate why the book has been so acclaimed, but I really struggled to connect with it.

Adam Haslett has said that his new novel IMAGINE ME GONE is a book he had to write, that the material chose him and that he is writing about how far you will go to save the people you love most. He writes then about a family of five: John, Margaret and their three children Michael, Celia and Alec. Their story goes from both the U. S. and England, where John was born. Over the years the various family members live in several places in the U. S. The time covered is long, from the 1960’s when John and Margaret marry until the present. All five characters speak in their own voices throughout the novel.

It is difficult to write a review without revealing a lot of the plot. Suffice it to say that both John and Michael have serious problems with depression. Mr. Haslett has written a very interior novel as he gets inside the heads of his characters. And he certainly writes with authority about depression. There are also passages that jump out at you: Michael’s musings on love—“I don’t know what most people mean when they use the word love. If they haven’t contorted their lives around a hope sharp enough to bleed them empty, then I think they’re just kidding. A hope that undoes what tiny pride you have, and makes you thankful for the undoing, so long as it promises another hour with the person who is now the world." And Margaret expresses her desire to visit her children when they move to a new place so she can “picture exactly where they are. That is precisely the way I feel about both my friends and family, and I do not recall ever having read such a passage in a novel before.

Mr. Haslett has written one of my favorite short stories in his first published book YOU ARE NOT A STRANGER HERE and I liked his novel UNION PACIFIC, so I eagerly started this novel. I am sad to say that it is one of the most depressing novels I can remember reading. Mr. Haslett writes so beautifully. I so wish I liked his novel more. And, yes, it is haunting but for all the wrong reasons. I cannot give more than three stars to a book I would not recommend to others to read.

5★
This should be a terribly depressing book, but it seems to be written with such affection for the characters who all loved each other, that I cared about them and the places they went. Lots of walks, seeing scenery that included mushrooms, “those extraordinary zigzags of brown crescents wending their way up the bark of the older trees like staircases for the Lilliputians.”

We’re introduced to two generations of a family dealing with anxiety and depression (“the monster”, as the father calls it: “the monster has its funnel driven into the back of your head and is sucking the light coming through your eyes straight out of you into the mouth of oblivion.”

This is a close-knit family, but not so closely knit that everything always holds together. Bits unravel here and there as individuals try to break free of the demands of caring for the people they love but who wear them out. They each have their own ways of antagonising the others . . . but also of caring deeply and looking after the others.

Each chapter is told by one member: John and Margaret, the parents of Michael, Celia and Alec.

Margaret is a young American working in England and dating the very British John. They plan to marry, but then “John’s clock began to run more slowly.” He winds down and refrains from his usual animated discussions about current affairs. While she’s away visiting her parents in the States, John ends up in hospital, apparently not for the first time. John’s father simply tells her, “We were rather hoping all this business was done with. His mother finds it most unpleasant.”

There is a point later in the book where John has come home from work and she knows he’s worried.

“He needs to be asked. He won’t talk about it of his own accord. He imagines that if he can contain it inside himself its resolution will be contained as well. That everything will work out—his upbringing distilled into a superstition.”

And that says it all about his background. Don’t talk about it, and maybe it will go away.

But it doesn’t. It comes and goes, Margaret’s exhausted with three kids and also because John’s exhausted, since that’s what depression does. Michael is particularly trying.

He’s an articulate, difficult young teen (probably “on the spectrum” we might say today), who talks about and collects music. Insightful and bright beyond his years, he is also extremely needy. Actually they are all needy, but Michael’s seems to be a more in-your-face I-NEED-YOU-NOW-OR-ELSE kind of needy.

When they take a cruise ship back to England, Michael writes a detailed diary of the voyage, where all the passengers were greased up, chained in irons and sold as slaves at ports along the way. This fantasy introduces both his imagination and his obsessive theory that there is a universal black memory of the slave trade that haunts and affects today’s black society and music. A permanent, genetic haunting that nobody’s acknowledging except him.

He also becomes obsessed with black people and certain kinds of music, and I admit I became as exasperated with all these esoteric (to me) musical references as almost everyone in his life is. As an adult, he makes mix tapes, is a DJ, writes music reviews, but smothers the people he loves and fixates on. He catalogues his various medications, but when he’s down, he relies on his family and exes to talk him through it for hours.

Each member of the family is a strong character, and I was taken with the fact that all the voices are quite different. I don’t recall ever trying to remember whose story I was reading. We might think we know what WE would do in their circumstances, but when we see Celia, for example, as an adult in San Francisco talking on the phone to one of the others, we watching her slip back into family mode, as most of us do. Perfectly done.

And as John says about his daughter “I’m momentarily astonished at her existence—this child of mine. How narrowly we all avoid never having been. . . as though, if I am not careful between here and the parking lot, I might go astray and she will be canceled, stolen back by not-being, like a thief grabbing her through an open window.”

John used to play “Imagine Me Gone” with his kids – get them out in a boat, stop the engine, and pretend to nap, telling them they had to figure out how to get them all home. Suddenly he is imagining - What if?

Michael is the most annoying character, but he is also so smart and sardonic and funny in his way, and the others have such strong stories of their own, that it’s a very satisfying book.

I really loved it. Many thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown, and Company for a copy to review. All quotations are from the review copy and subject to change.

IMAGINE ME GONE by Adam Haslett is the story of five family members dealing with mental illness. The story is told at different times from each of the five family member's perspectives. Margaret and John are the parents of Michael, Celia, and Alec. John's mental illness makes it tough on the family, especially his wife Margaret, while we also see that as Michael matures to adulthood, he is afflicted with increasingly severe mental problems.
Haslett's ability to write about how people analyze situations and how their feelings cloud that analysis is tremendous. As much as this book was about the people who suffer from mental illness, I found it was more about how those who are the support and family have to live and shape their lives to help their loved ones. As portrayed, sometimes it made them better people and sometimes not so much. The perspective changes kept the story fresh and the well paced story progression makes for a smooth read. The subject matter is a tough one to conquer, but I think that Haslett does a good job of digging deep into a how a whole family struggles when illness brings one of them down. The morbidly comic sections that were from Michael's perspective were well written, but I found them a little out of sorts and felt a little icky finding humor in the neurosis of another person. But I'll admit that other readers might have a different take on that.
IMAGINE ME GONE is a well written book on a tough subject. Emotionally challenging to read a times (not a negative), I feel like IMAGINE ME GONE will linger in my thoughts for a while and has altered my perspective on mental illness.
Thank you to Little, Brown and Company, Adam Haslett, and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

After hearing Adam Haslett read the first two sections of Imagine Me Gone at the 2016 Texas Book Festival, I was intrigued enough to grab a copy of it before heading for home. The novel is told via alternating points-of-view sections narrated by a family of five: John, Margaret, and their three children, Michael, Celia, and Alex.
Those two sections read by Haslett that day, totaling just over four pages, introduce siblings Alex and Michael, who have been holed up together in an isolated cabin for over a month. From the Alex section, it becomes apparent that something serious involving Michael has just happened and Alex needs/wants to tell someone about it, even if it is only the complete stranger living in a nearby cabin. The shorter section from Michael is a satirical doctor’s office voice mail message of the type that, over-the-top and laugh-out-loud funny as it is, still has the power to make most readers cringe a bit in sympathy at the frustration being expressed by Michael.

The rest of Imagine Me Gone, a long flashback history of the family that begins when Margaret and John are courting in England, eventually circles all the way back to the book’s first four pages. (Interestingly, Haslett said at the book festival that he actually wrote the book in chronological order and only then transformed the book’s ending into its beginning by moving the final section to the front of the manuscript.)

Imagine Me Gone is a book about family ties, obligations, and legacy – be that legacy a good one or a bad one. It is about the difficulty of escaping the bonds between siblings, between parents, and between parents and their children even when those bonds have the potential and likelihood of destroying the entire family. And most of all, it is about the kind of mental illness that claims victims within a family generation after generation.

Margaret did not go into the marriage with her eyes closed. While she and John were still in the engagement-stage of their relationship, John - who had suffered periodic bouts of depression most of his life - had a severe enough incident that he was hospitalized for treatment. Margaret had a decision to make: wish John well and move on with the rest of her life, or marry him as planned. She chose to marry John, a decision that would haunt her and their children their entire lives.

John’s mental illness was relatively dormant for long stretches of his life, but it was a constant shadow hanging over his and Margaret’s marriage. This sometime-dormancy explains why their three children did not fully comprehend the seriousness of their father’s illness even as it was shaping them into the adults they would become. But at the same time, their father’s illness was laying claim to Michael, and unlike his father’s illness, Michael’s was never dormant - once it claimed him, Michael got no time off for good behavior. Haslett stated at the book festival that he particularly enjoyed writing the Michael character because of the outlandish ways that this very articulate character perceived the world around him.

Sometimes funny, sometimes terribly sad, Imagine Me Gone is the story of a family doing its best to play the bad cards it’s been dealt. It is a book, as the Texas Book Festival people put it, about “family history and inheritance.”

Margaret and John meet and marry in 1960s London even after Margaret learns of the monster that dogs John's life, a monster that is passed on to eldest son Michael. From the outside looking in this is a wonderful family but there is much inner turmoil and resentment.

John cannot evade the monster and eventually is overtaken. Margaret resents John's inability to help himself and is angered that he checks out on all the responsibility that a good, loving father ought to embrace in the care and feeding of his three children. She is exhausted having to do it all and deeply resents that he is not there for her emotionally, financially or even physically. She is really quite selfish though she projects this impression of being a matyr. I did not like her very much. When she scrapes the bumper sticker, "I hate my life" off of Michael's car that she has borrowed, she shares that she did it because, "everyone would assume the sentiment was hers".

After John is gone, daughter Celia, though quite young, is forced to deal with creditors and trying to right the family's financial ship. She is single minded, purposeful and determined to get the hell out of Dodge as soon as possible.

Youngest son Alec loves his family but feels like he's missing out on life and wonders why he can't seem to find anyone to love, as he deals with the responsibility of being there for Michael. The feelings of guilt, denial, and put-uponness is always there hovering just beneath the surface and choosing anything or anyone over Michael feels like a betrayal.

Michael, a promising young man, intense, passionate and excessive about everything, is plagued by the very same demons that drove his father away. He struggles with every facet of life ..... school, love, employment, and especially interacting with the people who love and enable him the most, his siblings and mother. He tries really hard, but he knows that there is something very wrong with him. It is quite obvious how much Celia and Alec love their big brother, broken as he is and Michael feels that love. Margaret knew early on that Michael would more than likely be like John, she felt it in him even from a baby. He was so unlike the other two. Why she did not seek to get him the help he needed early on is a mystery as it was apparent he could not fight this fight on his own. Possibly she was in denial.

This is as real a look at a madness that cannot be controlled as someone who takes their own saneness for granted, might ever get to glimpse. Like a wilderness into which one might vanish with no compass, the complexities of the mind's fragility and the resilience of the human spirit is all bound up together. That your mind can turn on you with such viciousness is a tragedy and terrifying. To see Celia and Alec put their lives on hold to come to Michael's aid time and again is beautiful and yet sad because their days and time seem to be as numbered as his.

Though this book is mostly dark, there is some humor to cast a bit of light. The dialogue is very believable and the characters finely drawn and we do get to see them grow and mature. The real power in this sad story is the depth of emotion and personality of each of the five voices as they tell in first person narrative their own tale. I enjoyed this book immensely!

“AUDIBLE 20 REVIEW SWEEPSTAKES ENTRY”

This is one of the harder book reviews to write for me. It's actually a well-written book, with well-crafted characters, and judging from some other reviews it's also a very accurate account of mental illness. Based on all that, it deserves a good rating.

It's just that I didn't fall in love with any of the characters, and the story left me depressed. Now, you could argue that this is just due to the subject matter. It's not a very uplifting topic. But I also felt the story dragged on too much, and there wasn't really much of a plot.

I had learned about Imagine Me Gone at a joint appearance by Adam Haslett and Ann Patchett at the Southern Festival of Books, and downloaded it immediately afterwards. Since then I've also read Commonwealth by Ann Patchett, which was also discussed at the same panel, and found that I liked it a lot more. It's not a book about mental illness so can't compare one on one, but there are plenty of quirky and flawed characters in her story, all of whom I immediately loved so much more.

There were some thought-provoking elements in Imagine Me Gone, but it's not a book I'll be gushing to my friends about.

A story about the difficult topic of mental illness, and its far-reaching and devastating consequences for a family. Told through the perspectives of all five members of the family in separate chapters, Haslett inhabits the personas of all his characters with surprising ease and commendable aplomb.

There is John, the father, who keeps his ‘episodes’ a secret from his wife, Margaret, early on in their relationship, the latter who is unable to help her oldest son, Michael, when he too, succumbs to pretty much the same issues as his father. Middle child Celia is fiercely independent and appears to be emotionally the strongest of the family, and helps Michael by listening to him and applying her therapist training on him in a strangely perfunctory manner. Alex, the youngest, has difficulty maintaining firm relationships most likely from being the youngest in a family as outwardly ordinary but troubled within, but finds himself playing the part of the other emotional crutch for Michael, whom he had always wanted attention from as a child.

The voices are all distinctly different in diction and tone, which should flesh them out and create reader empathy. However, despite such artistic prowess, I felt disconnected and did not quite empathise with any of the characters. Perhaps they were none of them particularly likeable, though that is not a prerequisite for reader empathy. I can only surmise that it was largely because the characters themselves all seem rather self-absorbed and detached from one another in their isolation, and the reader simply took their cue from them. There is good reason for their inability to connect though, and it is because they are each unable to confront a primal scene without acknowledging their guilt for not recognising the danger signs that pointed to its inevitability, not acting on what they recognised, and/or the failure to help one another adequately in its aftermath.

So it is with some annoyance from the reader, to discover when tragedy is about to be repeated, that one of the characters who is at the scene, reflects on his inaction in a regretful manner, both indicating that it was inevitable and at the same time, would have been preventable, despite the prior experience of the earlier incident. That drove the story to an anti-climax and failed to evoke the (presumably) intended pathos of the event.

**Thank you to NetGalley for a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review**

This book was something special and it certainly isn't for the faint of heart.

I had to read this book over the span of several days, to take a break from the story. The chapters alternate to follow the personal lives of different members of a family, all of whom are trying their best to support each other while maintaining their own lives and well being.

They all circle around Michael, the eldest son of the family who suffers from severe anxiety and depression. This is a painfully realistic representation of a family coping with mental illness as a unit, there is no happy ending and no miracle recovery from such an illness in many cases and this book deals with that unflinchingly.

Haslett has a remarkable style of writing which complements his story perfectly, the voice he created for Michael was perfect. Michael perfectly understood himself, his need to recover and the burden his illness places on his family - he isn't the usual crass description of self indulgently 'mad' that normally seems to accompany characters with any kind of mental illness.

His family love him unconditionally but his illness makes him exceptionally needy in respect of attention and eventually personal care, as the book spans across decades of their lives it puts into perspective exactly how exhausting and heart breaking it can be caring for an adult who isn't likely to recover. A tunnel with no light at the end.

This is an excellent book, perfect for anyone looking for a deeper insight into mental illness from a human perspective HOWEVER, this is not a happy story. It doesn't end well and could be incredibly upsetting if you are close to someone who suffers from severe depression or suffer from it yourself (it was very upsetting to me, with a close relative suffering from moderate depression!).

A perfect rainy day read that draws you in with talk of summer vacation in Maine and subsequently causes you to mourn as you watch the characters over the decades to follow. This book is about mental illness and the impact it has on a family. It’s about childhood with a mentally ill parent and the adulthood that follows. If you have any experience with either, it may be a challenging and emotional read.

Imagine Me Gone tells of Margaret, an American, who falls in love with a British man and discovers that he struggles with depression when he is suddenly hospitalized. She marries him anyway and this novel follows their life together focusing mainly on their three children. The first chapter is a view of the end before whipping back to tell things from the beginning. The writing is beautiful, really well done!

"I had never understood before the invisibility of a human. How what we take to be a person is in fact a spirit we can never see."

Imagine Me Gone was released Tuesday and is the May selection of the First Edition Book Club so I have a signed copy! I can’t wait to see what other books will come my way this year! What have been your favorite reads in 2016?

*** Update, I met Adam at the 2016 Chicago Lit Fest! ***

"We're haunted by the living as well as the dead."

This book is told through various family members points of view. In the beginning of the book, we meet Margaret and her future husband John. John is suffering from depression and Margaret goes through with their wedding and the couple has three children: Michael, Celia and Alec. Their father's depression has a profound effect on their family.

Through the decades we see how the family has grown and changed. Michael himself is mentally ill and his story is told through his and his family members lives.

This story is not a happy one. There is a feeling of melancholy throughout the book. I believe this is done of purpose to set the mood for the book.

This book is well written and I think it would make a very good book for book clubs. There is a lot of room for discussion on this book. For me, I found the book to be okay not great. I often find with books such as this, I tend to like it more after I have had time to sit, digest it, and discuss it with others.
Received from the Publishers and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A sense of melancholy and foreboding pervades this book, which is primarily what held my interest—the knowledge that something bad will happen, but having yet to discover what, when, how, and why. The writing is strong. I especially liked that the story is told through the alternating points of view of the different family members; an interesting and effective approach, particularly in this case, as it enables the reader to see how the circumstances affect each family member, in turn. I'm not sure I can say I "enjoyed" it per se—this book addresses mental illness and the toll it takes on the victim and everyone close to that person, so although enlightening, it's also quite depressing. Well done, but unless someone is seeking to understand what people suffering from mental illness go through, to "walk a mile in their shoes," I don't know that I would go out of my way to recommend it.

A few days ago I came to the conclusion that I couldn't finish this book. I just couldn't like the characters or the story. What parts I related to were triggers of my own upbringing and depressions. I figured this wasn't a good book for me.

After looking at the reviews and realizing a friend had recommended to me, I decided to stick it out. I must admit that the book got a little better but still was not one I will remember in the future. I would normally give this book a single star, but I do think the subject matter needs to be shared with others that may not have had the opportunity to learn about it first hand. And explore why the treatment of depression and other mental health issues don't get looked at is because many think the patients are needy, attention-getters or otherwise diminish the pain the person is going through. The author gives us a couple glimpses into the minds of severe depression. So I raised the star rating by one.

Since I review and rate for my own future reference I have to leave it at 2 stars. Others love this book and say it is their favorite of the year. So don't take my word for it. Pick it up and see what you think. Oh, I should mention this was a library Kindle version.

Adam Haslett’s generally good novel, especially so when Michael is on the scene, illustrates how the mental illness of one family member can influence and even alter the lives of the other family members. Those who have experienced the effects for themselves know just how true this is.

At the center of the vortex resides Michael, brother of Alec and Celia, son of John and Margaret. In the first part of the novel, readers meet the entire family when the children are young. John suffers from bouts of depression, which increase in severity, duration, and tolerability to the point where his once successful business ventures disintegrate when he can’t attend to them and finally to him taking his own life. This reveals nothing as it sets up the real story Haslett tells: how the teen and then adult children and Margaret cope with John’s death and with the increasingly unstable and manic Michael, who among other things suffers from severe anxiety disorder. The lead up to John’s death eats up nearly a third of the novel and if readers find the whole affair dragging and putting off engagement, well, it’s probably the opening, the set up for what’s to follow. It could have been considerably shorter, sorry to say.

Once past it, however, readers will find the novel thoroughly engrossing. Michael’s illness proves distracting and life altering to his brother and sister, and particularly so to Margaret for both emotional and financial reasons. Social work draws Celia, who eventually meets a man she can live with, one with his own set of challenges. Alec gets into political reporting and writing and can’t seem to form what he craves, a long lasting relationship with another man. And Margaret bears the brunt of Michael’s problems and in her efforts to help him nearly finds herself on the street. While Celia seems the logical person to take Michael in hand, and she does function as the point person for his long anxiety ridden phone calls, it’s Alec who shoulders the task of trying to help Michael face up to and resolve his illness, the result of which brings the family a sort of relief and stronger bond as a family.

As mentioned at the outset, most readers will find Michael the most captivating character. Some may even identify with certain aspects of his illness (though others who have lived with a person like Michael will bring their own personal understanding to the siblings and mother). As painted by Haslett, Michael, the younger version, can be a charismatic character. His riffs on music, a subject on which he is a walking catalog, will boggle, mesmerize, and as often mystify you. His avoidance techniques, particularly his fantastical sessions with his doctors and patient history forms, will crack you up, for this isn’t a novel without humor. So engaging will you find him, that you will find yourself hoping he will wake up and tackle his illness.

If you find the novel slow to ramp up in the beginning, preserve and Haslett will reward you with a revealing and emotional experience.

2017 has started out to be a good year, in regards to reading great novels! I truly loved this book! I will say that it was hard to get through at times, due to the subject matter, but I did not want this one to end. The author did an amazing job bringing the reader into the lives of these characters. Richly written, this novel will pull the reader into this families world, pushing the reader out, causing them to think about it long after it is done.
I did not want this novel to end. I will say I do have a small pet-peeve. I am an educated man, and I have read hundreds of books, the author has a tendency to use words that most people do not know, and never heard of, so be aware you may find yourself looking up certain words while reading this novel.
This is the second novel that I have read in 2017, which I have given 5 stars to. If this is any indication of how my year is going to go, I welcome it with open arms! In closing, do yourself a favor and read this book. It does deal with strong subject matter, but this is not a book to be missed! I cannot wait to see what Adam Haslett has up his sleeve. I would love to see this novel carried over into a sequel.

This is not a light read. It isn’t a pleasant feel-good book, nor is it uplifting or particularly optimistic. While it doesn't address a comprehensive list of behaviors one can get with mental illness, it gives a very realistic view into some of the trials and tribulations of all those who are touched by it. This is a very emotional account of "any family's" experience of living and caring for someone with mental illness.

Admittedly, I did skim some of Michael's passages. To me, they were abstract and not all integral to the story. Overall, I was moved by the story of Michael’s parents and his two endearing siblings. Recommended, with a note of caution.

What if you knew the person you were marrying wasn't well...wasn't emotionally well? Would you go ahead and marry him? How would it go? What would your lives be like? And your children?

That's Imagine Me Gone. It's a painful ride, but a ride that feels true on every page.

I'm thinking about life a little differently after reading this book. That's a sign of a fabulous book for me.

Hope you will give it a try, too.

It is hard to say that you like a book when it is one where you are feeling melancholy all the way through, but this is the feeling you get. However, there are many things that you have to think about, analyze, and discuss.
I chose this book after Newsday rated it as one of it's top 10 of the year, which was actually 5 fiction and 5 non-fiction, so really top 5. I had already read 2 of the books, I had 2 on reserve, leaving Imagine Me Gone, so I quickly put myself on the very short hold list for it. The writing was superb, and because there were parts of the book that were told from the viewpoint of each character, it gives the reader a better understanding of each character. We may still never know why each one made the decisions that they did, but we are given the opportunity to see each one from different sides.

My head is still spinning after reading this book. It's incredibly sad and also beautiful.

When John and Margaret meet and start dating, she is unaware he has mental health issues. But when she finds out, she goes ahead with the marriage.
There don't seem to be more problems than any normal family would have, until the day that John makes a drastic decision that will change them from then on.

Their three children: Michael, Celia and Alec are as different as can be, and each will struggle with the family history in their own way, as will Margaret.

Michael, who is as troubled as his father, will struggle through the years to balance his life and mind, involving all the family. Even when they are far away, they will regroup in order to help him survive.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The uncomfortable story of a family weighed down with mental illness. The lives of the family members are completely determined by a sickness they don’t even have. After having watched their father and brother kill themselves it is at the end you feel a sense of relief that now they will be able to live their own lives. I find these books to be depressing and frustrating. As with all books of this nature living in the brain of a character with mental problems does not appeal to me.

I am not even sure I have words for how beautiful this book is. I feel like the family could be any family, even my own family. John, the father whose battle with depression affects the whole family. Margaret, the mother who decides to love John even through his struggles and raises a family. Alex, the youngest, full of his own anxieties and issues. Celia, the middle child, who acts like a mother and takes care of all of them. Finally, Michael, the oldest whose own issues affect the family as much as John's. This novel is a beautiful book about what it means to be a family, how people perceive and deal with mental illness, and what we do when we have the best intentions for someone but not the full understanding of them.

I would rate this around 3.8, not quite up to a four star. This is a very depressing story. It was excruciatingly painful to read. It concerns mental illness among a few family members and the impact of this disease on the whole family. There is no short term solution here and the novel in my view gave a fairly realistic portrayal of those with the disease as well as how it impacted all of the other characters throughout their lives.. The characters were all very well defined. The only reason I hesitated in giving a higher rating is that I thought the ending was very contrived. I do not want to say more as it might be a spoiler.

5 stars don't seem to be enough to do justice to this incredible novel. And when you have the likes of heavy hitters like Peter Carey, Tony Kushner, Colum McCann, Paul Harding and Joy Williams giving the kind of effusive cover blurbs you KNOW are not just capitulations to a publicist's begging - anything I can say is pretty superfluous. Haslett's first book was nominated for both the Pulitzer and the National Book Award - I would be shocked and disappointed if this didn't garner at least that kind of attention. I doubt I will have as intense and satisfying a reading experience this year ......

I had high hopes for Imagine Me Gone – it’s a very serious subject that faces many in our country. And the book jacket alone grabbed my attention. But I found it very tedious to read. I’d like to suggest 2 other books, though not exactly on the same subject, still similar but much better (and interesting character development and family dynamics): Everything I never Told You by Celeste Ng & the newer Shelter by Jung Yun. I found this authors writing style too detailed with too many descriptions. I felt like the intentions were good but for me, it just did not come together. I kept expecting ‘more’. If you like more of a ‘heavy’ read, but with twists and turns, and how an event affects each family member differently, try the 2 novels listed above.

Haslett's latest is a tale of two books -- a penetrating, virtuoso performance on Michael, the central figure, and prosaic, whispy character development for everyone else. The book is worth reading and I will follow Haslett with interest, but it's only in Michael that he brings his full talents to bear. In Michael we have a fully realized, startlingly alive depiction of mental illness -- thought-provoking and greatly enjoyable, with the other chapters, regrettably, much less so.

Given all the rapturous, posiitvely worshipful reviews by the professional critics, it seems almost sacrilegious to say this, but I found Michael so irritating in his, arch, clever-clever precocity, and his obsession with alternative rock so utterly tiresome and trivial, that I could not go on with this book. Having greatly admired Adam Haslett's short stories, and having gone through the wrenching experience of watching my best friend from college descend into mental illness, I was genuinely sorry that I couldn't feel the same way about this much-praised novel.

Yikes! Talk about a real downer. I understand the subject matter is dark and heartbreaking and I have a family member who is mentally ill, so it isn't that I lack empathy. But this was just too much. When Michael would go off on his tangents I'd actually skip entire paragraphs.

when you write a novel from several people's perspectives, it is sometimes hard to distinguish one from another. that was not the problem for me, as much as being less interested in some of the characters. this however, is not the author's fault. he is a terrific talent.

Even after disappointing reading experiences, sometimes several in a row, you keep on reading for the sake of coming to something as engaging and moving as Adam Haslett's Imagine Me Gone. I suppose only time can tell, but I want to call this novel an American classic, with its preternatural empathy for characters whom anyone who breathes can also care about and finally — sometimes easily, sometimes with difficulty — love.

It’s probably not a book you should read in a public setting, because at any moment your reaction may be visceral and visible. At one point, I had to cover my face while reading in a hospital cafeteria.

I would single out the chapter ending with the father’s suicide (also ending with the word ”human”) as a securely enduring high spot in our literature.

It’s a difficult book to quote from out of context, but here’s one deft sentence that comes when brothers Michael and Alec are at Niagara Falls: “We passed through hordes of tourists milling at the bins of trinket shops and gazing like deer into the caverns of sports bars.”

This novel should surely at least be a finalist for all the major awards.

Author Adam Haslett explores love, family and mental illness across multiple generations in his latest novel, IMAGINE ME GONE. Told from each family member’s perspective across more than 30 years, the reader is exposed to the experiences of living with and loving a parent, spouse, sibling and child with mental illness. And, of course, to the experiences of two people living with mental illness themselves.

The family lives between two worlds. In one, most of which takes place outside of Boston, paterfamilias John is a successful, quick-witted businessman of some sort who easily makes lasting connections. But John falters for periods at a time, falling into a sort of “hibernation,” as a friendly doctor explains to Margaret on the eve of her engagement. These periods leave the family in limbo, forcing them to retreat from the United Kingdom, where Margaret would prefer to build their lives, and ultimately leading to John’s suicide in what he sees both as an act of cowardice and of mercy.

Of course, he doesn’t really leave them. He lingers not only in the scars they bear from his drawn-out fading and ultimate erasure, but also in the form of Michael, the eldest son. Michael, too, is unable to live the typical life that society, his family and he himself hope for. Tortured by anxiety with an obsessive focus on music and slavery in the United States and its aftermath, his suffocating attentions allow for little intimacy with people he is interested in (most of which are young, lesbian, black women). Some of this we see clearly through his siblings’ and mother’s pained depictions of his life, but others we realize via the man himself, whose reports are vivid and uncomfortable enough to leave the reader physically ill at ease.

It’s difficult, of course, to assess the book in some ways. There are points at which Celia, Alec (the other two siblings) and their mother have moments of insight that seem just a little too knowing. But then again, often the truth of a family is that they do see one another too clearly. So perhaps this isn’t unlikely. Certainly, it feels real. The specificity and oddity of the obsessions, and the knowledge most people carry of themselves and the stories they tell themselves to avoid it. Not to mention the confusion and terror of facing a mind you do not completely understand but also the confidence that, especially if it’s the mind of a close relative, it cannot be so different from yours as to be unreachable. Even without the chaos of mental instability, these are recognizable patterns.

As much as the book is about mental illness and the individual, it is about the family and the relationships that define who many of us are. These are the supporting structures that we cling to and reject so many times over a lifetime. It’s through these relationships that we often learn how to cope with the wider world, however unsuccessfully. If you don’t want to read it for the characters or their specific situation, read it for that. And for what it’s worth, IMAGINE ME GONE led to the singular experience of being stopped on the street by a young man who told me how much he loved it. A convincing review if ever I heard one.

Reviewed by Rebecca Kilberg

The writing is quite good. The subject matter is bizarrely mundane. People talking about their kids. The "illiberal of my first born." Who cares. I don't want to read about your internal parent monologue. I wish the author had spent his talents on something more interesting. I put it away after the first 1/3 or so.

Hadley writes about depression, anxiety and suicide with an understanding that makes reading this book intense but bearable. His characters have a lot of dimension and help readers who are unfamiliar with the impact of this disease get a sense of how it impacts the people who suffer from it. Not easy to read but glad I did.

when you write a novel from several people's perspectives, it is sometimes hard to distinguish one from another. that was not the problem for me, as much as being less interested in some of the characters. this however, is not the author's fault. he is a terrific talent.

Even after disappointing reading experiences, sometimes several in a row, you keep on reading for the sake of coming to something as engaging and moving as Adam Haslett's Imagine Me Gone. I suppose only time can tell, but I want to call this novel an American classic, with its preternatural empathy for characters whom anyone who breathes can also care about and finally — sometimes easily, sometimes with difficulty — love.

It’s probably not a book you should read in a public setting, because at any moment your reaction may be visceral and visible. At one point, I had to cover my face while reading in a hospital cafeteria.

I would single out the chapter ending with the father’s suicide (also ending with the word ”human”) as a securely enduring high spot in our literature.

It’s a difficult book to quote from out of context, but here’s one deft sentence that comes when brothers Michael and Alec are at Niagara Falls: “We passed through hordes of tourists milling at the bins of trinket shops and gazing like deer into the caverns of sports bars.”

This novel should surely at least be a finalist for all the major awards.

You won’t find this book light, easy reading, but it encompasses life with mental illness as it impacts the mentally-ill person, family and friends. By offering different perspectives of family members in chapters, the impact of a father’s mental illness and suicide and that of his oldest son is thoughtfully written.

Author Adam Haslett explores love, family and mental illness across multiple generations in his latest novel, IMAGINE ME GONE. Told from each family member’s perspective across more than 30 years, the reader is exposed to the experiences of living with and loving a parent, spouse, sibling and child with mental illness. And, of course, to the experiences of two people living with mental illness themselves.

The family lives between two worlds. In one, most of which takes place outside of Boston, paterfamilias John is a successful, quick-witted businessman of some sort who easily makes lasting connections. But John falters for periods at a time, falling into a sort of “hibernation,” as a friendly doctor explains to Margaret on the eve of her engagement. These periods leave the family in limbo, forcing them to retreat from the United Kingdom, where Margaret would prefer to build their lives, and ultimately leading to John’s suicide in what he sees both as an act of cowardice and of mercy.

Of course, he doesn’t really leave them. He lingers not only in the scars they bear from his drawn-out fading and ultimate erasure, but also in the form of Michael, the eldest son. Michael, too, is unable to live the typical life that society, his family and he himself hope for. Tortured by anxiety with an obsessive focus on music and slavery in the United States and its aftermath, his suffocating attentions allow for little intimacy with people he is interested in (most of which are young, lesbian, black women). Some of this we see clearly through his siblings’ and mother’s pained depictions of his life, but others we realize via the man himself, whose reports are vivid and uncomfortable enough to leave the reader physically ill at ease.

It’s difficult, of course, to assess the book in some ways. There are points at which Celia, Alec (the other two siblings) and their mother have moments of insight that seem just a little too knowing. But then again, often the truth of a family is that they do see one another too clearly. So perhaps this isn’t unlikely. Certainly, it feels real. The specificity and oddity of the obsessions, and the knowledge most people carry of themselves and the stories they tell themselves to avoid it. Not to mention the confusion and terror of facing a mind you do not completely understand but also the confidence that, especially if it’s the mind of a close relative, it cannot be so different from yours as to be unreachable. Even without the chaos of mental instability, these are recognizable patterns.

As much as the book is about mental illness and the individual, it is about the family and the relationships that define who many of us are. These are the supporting structures that we cling to and reject so many times over a lifetime. It’s through these relationships that we often learn how to cope with the wider world, however unsuccessfully. If you don’t want to read it for the characters or their specific situation, read it for that. And for what it’s worth, IMAGINE ME GONE led to the singular experience of being stopped on the street by a young man who told me how much he loved it. A convincing review if ever I heard one.

Reviewed by Rebecca Kilberg

The writing is quite good. The subject matter is bizarrely mundane. People talking about their kids. The "illiberal of my first born." Who cares. I don't want to read about your internal parent monologue. I wish the author had spent his talents on something more interesting. I put it away after the first 1/3 or so.

Hadley writes about depression, anxiety and suicide with an understanding that makes reading this book intense but bearable. His characters have a lot of dimension and help readers who are unfamiliar with the impact of this disease get a sense of how it impacts the people who suffer from it. Not easy to read but glad I did.

Beautifully written book about people wanting connection but hindered by their percieved familial roles and responsibilities. The characters are vivid and complex. The situations will feel familiar to anyone who has a family or even a close group of friends. It explores issues of mental illness, co-dependency and just figuring out what it means to be an adult.

This book takes a profound and humbling look at mental illness and the effects it has on one family. It is a slow burn with well developed characters. It took me awhile to get into but once I did I couldn't put it down. And I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since I finished.

**SPOILERS**

I wanted to like this book, and some aspects about it were great. I really felt like the author was able to describe how mental illness affects the person who has it, and the family surrounding them. What I thought I would get more of was the history of how the father dealt with it all those years. We only get glimpses of it.

It just felt like there should have been more to the story for the father.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Adam Haslett’s novel titled, Imagine Me Gone, and I am hesitant to say why. If I say the subject matter explores mental illness, you might be inclined to take a pass. If I say that the novel deals with the primacy of family love over everything else, you might be inclined to think you’ve read this story before, and often enough. If I tell you the writing is superb, you might not care. So here’s my pitch: there are five interesting narrators in this novel; mental illness is often shunted to the sidelines or ignored as long as it remains out of sight; and one of these narrators could well be someone just like you. Mental illness is present among lots of families, perhaps yours. Fine writing can lead us to insights about ourselves. This novel is finely written, packed with insights, and makes visible something well worth seeing.

Rating: Five-star (I love it)

This is an important book. It's not an easy one, but it casts a realistic & necessary light on mental health issues & how they affect family members as well as the person afflicted. It was difficult at times, but well-worth it.

IMAGINE ME GONE is a microscopic look at a fictional family as told by its five members: the mom, the dad, the two sons and the daughter. It took a while for the writing style to begin to flow for me but once it did, I was mesmerized. I definitely recommend this enlightening read…

Good portrait of a family contending with serious mental health issues of two of its members. The mental health issues greatly affect the lives of the family members. While reading the book I felt sorry for everyone involved.

depressing, painful, and not an easy read but on the plus side insightful and well written. thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I think this is a love it or hate it book because it's so intense and because the subject of mental illness is so personal. Give it a chance.

A truly remarkable book, highly lauded by no less than Tony Kushner, arguably America's most cerebral and brilliant playwright. My husband and I met (or re-met) Adam Haslett at a wedding reception a few weeks back, so I dutifully ordered his most recent novel. Nothing prepared me for the insightful portrait of a family damaged by tragedy, told from perspectives which shift among characters chapter by chapter.

The tragic event happens fairly early in the novel; we then trace the aftermath over the decades which follow. Michael, the eldest son, is devastated, unable to complete his academic studies and increasingly dependent on anti-depressants. Celia runs herself into exhaustion in adolescence, then takes up social work to solve the problems of others, unable to resolve her own issues. The youngest, Alec, seems to have escaped with the least scarring, but he has relationship issues, with his family members and the men he meets. Their mother, Margaret, tries her best to make things better , which rarely works and her children resent.

None of these observations will detract from your own enjoyment, which is all in the extraordinary details which Haslett brings to this dysfunctional lot. Michael has a wonderfully obsessive love for throbbing dance music - disco, house, techno, trance, their European brethren, and all the later permutations. Haslett makes an insightful argument for the merit of club music as social movement. A delightful fillip - Michael is not the gay brother, despite this love for Donna Summer.

The shifting perspectives are told with utter clarity, yet further demonstration of Haslett's command of verbiage and plot. It's such a joy to read a truly well-crafted novel, with flowing language and unexpected plot turns. On a gorgeous early-summer weekend, I spent much of my time indoors, enjoying the pleasures of this extraordinary work.

Highly recommended.

Adam Haslett's new book, "Imagine Me Gone", takes a look at one family through loss, addiction, depression and strength. It's wonderfully crafted with characters that are revealed through a prism of ultimate understanding. While Margaret, John, Alec, Celia and Michael could be easily described as "dysfunctional", the author gives rise to them by letting their stories unfold over time in way as to draw empathy with them and care for them. In differing ways of maturity, most of them come to focus in on their lives with accelerating clarity, with the exception of Michael, whose life seems more circular than the others.

This is a terrific read and the author deserves much credit for keeping us close to them. I highly recommend it.

This is a very sad book. Amazing, but sad. I believe the author must have intimate knowledge of anxiety and depression to write this. It seemed very true to life. I did not enjoy the first 50 pages or so, but as the characters developed, the book got better (for me.) Certainly worth a read, but be prepared, it isn't happy.

This is one of the most fascinating accounts of family life interrupted by a mentally troubled parent. We not only see the affects on the children but just how this can be passed on to some of the children as well. It is no wonder it was a Pulitzer finalist. Quite a read.

After all of the amazing reviews, I expected it to be better. While the book gives us knowledge of what it is like to struggle with mental illness, I did not find the story to be especially interesting. I was okay.

An absolutely brilliant book. The writing is poignant and insightful, the story is simple yet engaging. Adam Haslett has written a masterful story, compelling, memorable and finely detailed. I look forward to reading more of his books.

What a sad book. And it's sad that the problems portrayed are such a common occurrence in our world now. The writing is good - it addresses several themes thoughtfully. I didn't really care for any of the characters though - they just weren't very likeable.

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review.

I started out enjoying this book but then became disgruntled. All the charactors were written in the same voice regardless of age and sex. This ruined the story for me. Maybe I'll go back to it later.

Anyone who has or hasn't known the world mental illness will be touched by this book it is not easy to read in a good way it gets down and dirty in the struggles that one afflicting mental illness has to go through and also their families the realist way I have read to date.

This is the story of how mental illness affects a family, primarily Michael, the sufferer. There’s also his father, consumed by the beast of depression, his mother Margaret, the enabler, and siblings Alec and Celia, who are trying to maneuver their own lives. Unfortunately, I wasn't enraptured by the book. I just didn't connect with the characters and Michael's ramblings on music totally lost me. It is well written but not a book that wowed me.

A little slow in the beginning. However picks up in the middle or so. Hits on mental illness, gay llife style. and rather dysfunctional families. Different, but as I read on, it became more entertaining. Not a bad choice. Ended up enjoying it.

If you want to read long winded paragraphs about boring characters blabbing on and on, then this is the book for you. Skip this dud - unless you have insomnia or want a detailed analysis of the record industry.

I don't know about accurate depictions of depression, but the voice of Margaret is off from the beginning. What earthly reason would induce a woman to read Norman Mailer, especially "Armies of the Night". Linda.

This is the story of how mental illness affects a family, primarily Michael, the sufferer. There’s also his father, consumed by the beast of depression, his mother Margaret, the enabler, and siblings Alec and Celia, who are trying to maneuver their own lives. Unfortunately, I wasn't enraptured by the book. I just didn't connect with the characters and Michael's ramblings on music totally lost me. It is well written but not a book that wowed me.

A book that tackles mental illness and at first blush appears to be about generational trauma but ultimately reveals a meditation on the history of slavery and racism in America. Imagine Me Gone is definitely worth a read for both serious scholars of American Literature and those who casually read for intellectual engagement.

The positive reviews make me lose faith in my fellow men. This is the most pitiful drivel I've read in ages. Even thought I read it for free from my library I stopped at about 25% because it was putting me to sleep.

On the surface, a story about loss told in vignettes by different family members. But once you've read it, you realize it's actually a love story. The story of a family's love while dealing with loss and forgiveness. A universal story told with dark humor and tears in breathtakingly beautiful language. It makes no explanation for the causes of mental illness nor how they are best treated. However, it does raise questions of the current accepted drug therapies and their impact on the quality of life of both the patient and those around them. All writing teachers and students need to read this to see how beautifully a story can be told.

I tried - I really tried - to get into the story, but I couldn't. To me it felt disconnected and confusing. I found it nearly impossible to follow. I'm bummed, because I wanted to like it, but it just didn't click for me.

“No one’s capacity was infinite.”

Imagine Me Gone follows a family through the trenches of mental illness.

“Against the monster, I’ve always wanted meaning. Not for its own sake, because in the usual course of things, who needs the self-consciousness of it? Let meaning be immanent, noted in passing, if at all. But that won’t do when the monster has its funnel driven into the back of your head and is sucking the light coming through your eyes straight out of you into the mouth of oblivion. So like a cripple I long for what others don’t notice they have: ordinary meaning. Instead, I have words. The monster doesn’t take words. It may take speech, but not words in my head, which are its minions. The army of the tiny, invisible dead wielding their tiny, spinning scythes, cutting at the flesh of the mind. Unike ordinary blades, they sharpen witth use. They’re keenest in repetition. Self-accusation being nothing if not repetitive. There is nothing deep about this. It is merey endless.”

Gripping from the beginning, Imagine Me Gone, keeps that kernal in the back of your mind, an ever-present wonder which colors every interaction between the siblings. John and Margaret are the parents to three children- Michael, Celia and Alec. Throughout the story we come to know each one more personally- seeing the ways their father’s mental illness touched parts of their life and watching as they overcome those challenges, all except Michael.

Michael suffers from debilitating anxiety. And, although he is the only one who suffers the symptoms, his entire family becomes absorbed and almost suffocated by it. Michael attempts to integrate into normal society but is repeatedly tripped up either by his newest female obsession who does not reciprocate his feelings or the multiple rejections by graduate programs who do not appreciate his work, as a white male, in the field of slavery and trauma. In an attempt to stave off ‘the monster’ Michael seeks medical treatment and is perscriped a multitude of different medications thus initiating a sprial of relief, tolerance, increase and inevitable dependance.

“There’s a limit, Alec. You don’t want to think about it, but there’s an ethical limit to what anyone should have to endure. You can’t just negate that with sentimentality. With the idea of some indomitable spirit. That’s a fairy tale. It’s what people say about other people, to avoid the wretchedness. It’s just cruelty by other means. Requiring a person to stay alive. For you. Dad, for instance. I never blamed him. I never did. He reached his limit.”

Margaret is struggling to stay afloat after the loss of her husband. She spares no expense when it comes to Michael. She does what ever she can to keep him alive, whether that means amassing a nearly insermountable debt or selling the family home. She is desparate to save her son from the ends her husband met but she is still unsure of how to love him.

Celia and Alec struggle to balance their lives with the burden of caring for their ailing elder brother. Each suffer their own struggles which are further complicated by the amount of time and energy Michael demands from them. Ultimately, in a desperate attempt to quell Michael’s insatiable need for contact and for his medication, Alec and Michael seclude themselves in the family’s cabin. Alec works to rid Michael of his dependance on medication with the hopes of restoring balance.

“It seemed as if whatever anxiety drug had kept it in check over the years had been stored up rather than actually eliminated, pooling like a dammed river in his head and now the gates were openn and the flood had arrived. There was nothing to do but wait for it to run its course. Eventually, his body had to tire.”

Heart-wrenching, complicated and devastating Imagine Me Gone brings to light the unstable and tumultuous experience that plague those who suffer from mental illness and the families that support them.

You won’t find this book light, easy reading, but it encompasses life with mental illness as it impacts the mentally-ill person, family and friends. By offering different perspectives of family members in chapters, the impact of a father’s mental illness and suicide and that of his oldest son is thoughtfully written.

I don't understand the hype around this book. I originally bought it because I saw that it was up for numerous awards and was looking for a compelling fiction read. I was pretty disappointed. The writing style is good, but it's nothing spectacular. The characters are decent, but they're not memorable. This is a book that I will never read again nor talk about again for the rest of my life.

In fact, the main character is downright annoying. And not in a profound or unique way. He is a white boy who feels guilty for being white, and you're supposed to feel bad for him. There are vague allusions to mental illness but they're not really mentioned all that much. Generally, you just have a white boy feeling bad for being white and acting pitiable for the entire length of the book. The sister and brother are much more interesting, but even they don't have very interesting lives or profound realizations about anything.

I just think this book, while good, doesn't stack up to all the hype that was surrounding it. It is no masterpiece. 3/5 stars.