{"product_id":"the-man-i-didnt-know-9781736453445","title":"The Man I Didn't Know","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Man I Didn't Know\u003c\/em\u003e narrates my discovery of a father unknown to me. To be sure, I thought that I knew my father. Although my parents were divorced and I lived with my mother, I spent all day Saturdays with him for 11 formative years, from ages 8 to 18. And I continued to communicate with him by weekly letters and occasional visits for another ten years until his death. He was a good father: attentive and loving. But, then, 32 years after his death, I discovered his diary and myriad short stories that he had written. As I began to read the volumes in this trove, I quickly came to a startling revelation: the author of the diary and the stories was unrecognizable: a stranger, a father I didn't know. This stranger was beset by the insidious demons of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), demons that were foreign to the father I knew, respected, loved. Distraught, I was compelled to read further, hoping to resolve this disconnect between the fathers I knew and didn't know.\u003c\/p\u003eThis became a study of a man's recovery from acute mental illness. The study derives from personal memories of my father and two interlacing narratives: my father's diary and his short stories written under a pseudonym, Ellis Worth. Over time-12.6 years to be exact-they follow the contours of my father's mind. They tell about his nervous breakdown, his hospitalization, his bouts of insulin- and electro-shock therapy. They tell about his conscious thoughts as he interacts with psychiatrists, colleagues, family, and lover. And they tell about his dreams: unconscious nighttime dreams and conscious daytime dreams, dreams of becoming a successful writer, dreams of marrying the woman he loves. narration tells of his gradual recovery from this insidious illness to become the father I knew, respected, and loved. \u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Annandale Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/28\/2023\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781736453445\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 288\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.73lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.00h x 5.25w x 0.65d","brand":"Dean O. Smith","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43228370731189,"sku":"9781736453445","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_9d204c3a-d5e0-428e-8450-91e8d34cf964.jpg?v=1698725339","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/the-man-i-didnt-know-9781736453445","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}