I thought this book was interesting and I enjoyed reading it, but I wasn't blown away. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys memoirs or historical fiction. It definitely opened my eyes to the treatment of psychiatric patients in the 1940's, but it lacked a certain personal, emotional depth that would have made it an incredible book.

Dr. Perry Baird's tale is unmistakably tragic. One of which is lived by many who find themselves ensnared in the still alarmingly archaic "institutions" of mental health.

While it is true that the core of this book is not so much about the treatment Dr. Perry Baird received, and substantially more so about his day-to-day life and the lense through which he viewed his reality, and a scant amount about his daughter, the author of this book, Mimi Baird, and her discovery of who he was as a human, father, and prominent doctor, one cannot help but draw parallels to the system of incarceration still in place for those who suffer mental illnesses of all varieties.

As for the content, I find myself feeling frustrated that the author admits in the prologue that she used, however well-intentioned, certain artistic liberties to try and fill in gaps in her father's manuscript. More egregiously, in my opinion, she admits an intentional blending of these liberties without using any means or methods to convey to the reader when such is happening.

Nevertheless, Dr. Perry Baird's manuscript, paired with medical records obtained from hospitals wherein he was institutionalized provide an astounding glimpse into the mind of an individual suffering from mania.

The book is dedicated at slightly over three fourths to the manuscript, and the remainder to Mimis attempt to separate the man from the myth and to gain answers to questions left unanswered, for far too long, about her father's absence.

This portion feels a bit flat, though it is definitely not the authors fault alone. Trying to piece together the life of a man that had been essentially given up on by those who knew him is no small feat.

The title feels a tad misleading, as the portion of print dedicated to hunt to learn whom Dr. Perry Baird was is small, it does not detract from the overall quality of the book.

If you enjoy medicine, mental health, or want to peer into a realm i.e., mental illness, that you are unfamiliar with then this may be a fine place for you to start.

3.5

A tragic personal history of mental health. The author publishes her father's journal of being in a locked ward for manic depression. Heartbreaking accounts of the inhumane ways mental illness was treated in the 1940s when 55% of hospital beds were occupied by the mentally ill.

As some with manic depression (bipolar disorder) I found this book moving, hard to listen to at some points but beautifully written and narrated. A very important book. I'm glad his daughter published his writings because even though mental illness treatment is now much better we still have a long way to go and especially to get rid of the stigma. Brilliant brave book.

He Wanted the Moon: The Madness and Medical Genius of Dr. Perry Baird, and His Daughter's Quest to Know Him by Mimi Baird and Eve Claxton is a heartbreaking story of bipolar disorder and its devastating effect on a patient and a family. This book is in part excerpts from Dr. Baird's journal from the 1940s. The realities of his illness are all the more harsh heard through his own voice.

Read my complete review at: http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2015/02/he-wanted-moon-madness-and-medical.html

Reviewed for LibraryThing Early Reviewers program

An interesting read as this man's life and mental illness are told from his writings and the daughter's research years later. Even though we have medications that were not available in the 40s and 50s, I don't think attitudes about the mentally ill have really improved that much.

One of those books that seems way more interesting to the author than the reader.

Soooo interesting to see how far we’ve come in regards to understanding manic-depression. Barbaric were the treatments for this crippling health issue in the 1940s. The author really shows courage and determination in finding the truth about her brilliant father. 4.5 very solid stars.

Quite a moving tale of a daughter, who, after years of wondering about the father she hardly remembered, is handed a box containing a manuscript written by him.

Baird's father was a well-heeled dermatologist in Boston in the '30s and '40s who developed what we would today call bipolar disorder. As a physician, he was somewhat aware of the process he was going through, and attempted to write down his experiences as his career, family and sanity melted away from him.

The first half of the book consists of a narrative of the brief period her father spent moving in and out of various psychiatric facilities, around the time that her parents' marriage fell apart. It consists of his own impressions of his experiences, interspersed with the notes of the psychiatrists that were treating him. It's a bit painful to read as his writing moves from quite lucid to manic and delusional. I can't imagine what it was like to read this as his child. The second half outlines his life after this episode, and her efforts to discover it.

Baird interviews relatives and old family friends over the years to piece together a picture of her father's life. And I think she does a fantastic job. What a legacy to leave to her family. She received such a treasure in that box of papers. And she did a wonderful thing with it.