Mark Vonnegut is the son of author Kurt Vonnegut. He was raised in a family with a long history of mental illness. In addition, when he was a child, his parents took in his four orphaned cousins and raised them along with their own three children. Fortunately for the Vonneguts, they had recently purchased a 16 room on Cape Cod and had plenty of room, if not money to accommodate a family of 9. During much of his growing up, his mother suffered from mental illness. It wasn't until Mark was in his 20s and living on a British Columbia commune that he was first hospitalized for schizophrenia. After subsequent hospitalizations and authoring a book about his experiences and treatment, The Eden Express, Vonnegut was accepted to Harvard Medical School, where he completed his studies to become a pediatrician. He was diagnosed as bipolar and suffered one more breakdown which hospitalized him 20 years later. He chronicles his life, illnesses, marriage, medical career, divorce, marriage, fatherhood, and the death of his famous father in an honest and matter-of-fact way.
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