Zack Mcdermott's Gorilla And The Bird

Nothing could sound more out of the ordinary than the title of Zack McDermott’s memoir: Gorilla and the Bird. Who could relate to the relationship between a looming, hairy, bipolar, gorilla of a man and a resilient, witty, selfless bird of a mother? How could an audience understand the pain and confusion that accompanies the diagnosis of bipolar disorder? Despite countless unusual life experiences, McDermott weaves the tapestry of his own life while incorporating collective threads from every reader. Absent father figure? Check. Contempt with a childhood hometown? Got it. Loving and protective mother? Roger that. Psychotic breaks and dangerous manic episodes? Eh...not so much. The beauty of McDermott’s work is that he seamlessly combines all
When a psychotic break lands him in a New York mental hospital with a diagnosis of bipolar 1, McDermott not only fights to regain his own sanity, but battles the longstanding ignominy against those deemed to be “mentally ill.” With his mother, the Bird, ever by his side, he conquers the unpredictable ebb and flow of his disease and learns how to take back control of his life. After years of personally combating stigmas against mental illness, McDermott uses his own experiences as a platform to give a voice to those who lack the lucidity to do so themselves. An electrifying memoir, McDermott lifts the veil covering the lives of those with a mental illnesses, bringing awareness to the opprobrium and mistreatment of those with diseases no different than cancer or diabetes. After being blown away by McDermott’s heartening candidness and vulnerability, I implore that the masses grab a copy of Gorilla and the Bird. It is only by being exposed to stories like Zack McDermott’s that we are able to understand the injustices in the world and fortify the movement to combat