In order to prove that I am not a curmudgeon, I am going to list ten good things about a book that I don't particularly like. The book is Just Like Someone Without Mental Illness Only More So by Mark Vonnegut. It's a memoir about his experiences coping with mental illness and substance abuse, working as a pediatrician, being the son of a famous writer (Kurt Vonnegut), and other matters.
1. The book is only 203 pages and is a relatively quick read. So even if you don't like the book, you don't have to spend a lot of time reading to finish it.
2. It is very easy to remember the author's name. This is useful if you're trying to get a copy of the book after forgetting to write down the title.
3. There were no sparkly vampires anywhere in the book.
4. I think Mark Vonnegut likes patting himself on the back, but I also think he's earned it. Despite having bipolar disorder (or possibly another psychiatric disorder) and experiencing multiple psychotic breaks -- including one that occurred many years after he thought he was done with them -- he still managed to have a successful career as a pediatrician and write a couple books.
5. Mark Vonnegut seems to have been influenced by his father's sense of humor and there are some funny lines in the book. Compare this to Jonathan Safran Foer (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close), who seems to have been influenced by Kurt Vonnegut's typographical experiments with unfortunate results. Indeed, the mere fact that Just Like Someone Without Mental Illness Only More wasn't written by Jonathan Safran Foer and doesn't abuse ellipses with relentless cruelty is itself a reason to like this book. So it goes.
6. I think the chapter about his volunteer work in Honduras is interesting, particularly his observations about how the experience differed from his expectations.
7. Mark Vonnegut gripes about the negative effect of our insurance system on healthcare. He doesn't say anything new about this issue, but at least he's griping about a legitimate problem.
8. The book provides an insider's perspective on admissions into Harvard Medical School from Dr. Vonnegut's time on the admissions committee. I wish Vonnegut had elaborated, but at least he gives us some insight and seems skeptical enough that he appears to be candid.
9. I admit that I don't care about his (non-psychedelic) mushroom hobby, and I suspect that a lot of other people don‘t either. But I admire Mark Vonnegut's chutzpah for choosing to end the book with an entire chapter about it. This is a book about experiencing psychotic breaks, overcoming adversity to become a successful physician, being the son of one of the most renowned writers of the 20th century, participating in a medical mission to Honduras...and the grand finale is a chapter about mushrooms. I have to respect an author who refuses to kowtow to other people's notions of interesting reading material. Also, mushrooms are very healthy (well, except when they're poisonous).
10. I also admit that I don't particularly like the style of the book. Much of it consists of short tidbits that raise interesting issues without exploring them in depth, sometimes substituting funny one-liners for real substance, and the book tends to bounce around between topics without a real sense of cohesion. However, I want other people to like this type of writing because that's essentially what I do on my blog. So I'm going to list it as a good thing.