Reviews for A Fractured Mind: My Life with Multiple Personality Disorder

The average rating for A Fractured Mind: My Life with Multiple Personality Disorder based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-12-27 00:00:00 Danny Kay My Amazon review: Books on multiple personality disorder are not, as a rule, very well written and A Fractured Mind is no exception to this. It is unfortunate, however, that where those other books made up for literary lapses by being incredibly emotional, open, and intriguing, A Fractured Mind falls more than short. Robert Oxnam's story is, indeed, a sad one. I do not wish to blame the victim - it is clear Mr. Oxnam has gone through quite a bit in his life that nobody should have to deal with. Unfortunately, it does not make him the least bit likable, nor does it, apparently, make a good book. Mr. Oxnam spends most of the book detailing sessions with his therapist that he does not clearly remember and giving the vaugest of outlines about what was going on in his life, only going into detail when he can drop a well-known name or event. This flaw of name-dropping (one he readily owns up to but makes no effort to curb) combined with his reluctance to detail or discuss abuse that may have triggered his MPD, or to discuss his emotional recovery invoving his traumas and abuse takes so much away from the book that you can't help but wonder (as a few other reviewers have) if, perhaps, he wasn't misdiagnosed. Maybe what we really have here is not a high-functioning MPD but an overly-smart narcissistic, sociopathic (is that an oxymoron?) alcoholic who found a chance to redeem previously failed noveling efforts by giving his separate personalities (ones we all have, really) different "names" who he could then use to blame and/or prasie for various events in his life and write a book about. His reluctance to name abusers, or discuss family details, relationship details, etc. is admirable, but it makes the whole point of writing a book somewhat useless. Ultimately, Mr. Oxnam is the only one who knows what he is writing about and his withholdings make the reader unable to identify with just about anything he tries to explain. To add insult to injury, Mr. Oxnam's therapist offers a 25 page epilogue on "Understanding DID Therapy" that would be better placed as a preface but, ultimately, offers no additional insight or understanding. (Although it is eminently more readable to Mr. Oxnam's section.) Overall, I think this was probably a book Mr. Oxnam needed to write. I am sure it was theraputic to get it all down on paper. It is not, however, a book Hyperion should have found worth publishing. I am sure Will Schwalbe and Leslie Wells of "the Hyperion family" will beware of such self-indulgent name-droppers in the future.

Review # 2 was written on 2019-12-01 00:00:00 David Flaugher This book starts slowly - the initial sections with Bob describing his life and career in Asian studies and diplomatic relations are quite dull - I would ask that you give this book time to develop, because it's a rare bird in the field of memoirs that deal with multiple systems, and I'll try to explain why. Firstly, this is not a book about trauma. Yes, trauma is mentioned, as is Bob's struggle with addiction, but they are mentioned in passing and are not the focus of this work. Secondly, what IS the focus of this work are the system members, their inner world, their dynamics with each other and with those around them, primarily, their therapist. I find it hard to recall another work where the system members each get such focus of pagetime, and the opportunity to talk about themselves, their experience, and their identity as individuals. Thirdly, this is a book that shows that multiple systems - even those with unresolved trauma and amnesia about their multiple state - can be high achievers, excelling in their chosen careers. In fact, this system excelled to such a degree BECAUSE of their multiplicity, because different system members handled different aspects of their work, knowledge base, and goals. They struggled with burnout and addiction, yes, but so do many high achievers. They sought treatment because of these things, and in doing so, revealed their multiplicity and were able to formulate a healthier way of being. And they didn't do this in their youth - the body was in its fifties before this happened. They were dysfunctional but successful, the epitome of a covert system. And finally, this is a book where the integrations and inner world changes are something that happens relatively organically and naturally. It's understated, not melodramatic, and it results in the stable triumvirate that presents to the world at the close of the work. Small quibbles - like I said at the beginning, it is slow to start and I don't share Bob's interest in his career. I also think at times that the system's therapist doesn't understand the difference between integration, communication, and co consciousness, evidenced most clearly when he tells them that he thinks they've had a seven-way fusion rather than three, simply because he thinks it 'makes sense' and hasn't seen the other system members lately. Also, later in the book, an angry system member thought previously to have integrated temporarily emerges to raise hell, making me think that perhaps some of the system aren't integrated, but went deeper in-world or dormant after sharing their memories with the others. But, like I said, these are small things, and do not devalue the importance of this work, or the significance of the system's decision to tell their story in this measured, matter-of-fact, public way when they had a career that was significantly impacted by the rumours of their multiplicity. They could have buried their plurality; instead, they shared it, openly, and that takes a particular strength of courage.