Piekos, MagdaAP Psychology, period 3Mr. 05/20/2014Book Review: Hurry Down SunshineMichael Greenberg gained fame writing his own memoir Hurry Down Sunshine, about his daughter Sally who begins to suffer from manic depression. Greenberg was born in 1952 and only wrote two books, the second not gaining as much fame as Hurry Down Sunshine depicted an internal struggle with his own family. There is not much information about Michael Greenberg, except that he continues his life in New York. Hurry Down Sunshine attempts to recreate a father's struggle with his daughter's case of manic depression. Michael Greenberg, the protagonist, seems to believe that his daughter Sally is completely normal and denies her illness even after his friend James Joyce had the same case with his own daughter Lucia. Greenberg's ex-wife, Robin, also tries to convince Michael that Sally is nothing since Sally is a "highly spiritual girl" (Greenberg 48). Once Sally is escorted home by the police for acting inappropriately on the street and scratches him violently, Greenberg begins to assess his daughter's state of mind. A doctor suggests placing Sally in a psychiatric ward to improve her condition and Greenberg finally gives in because everything else has become hopeless. This illustrates the theme of accepting the truth, no matter how difficult it may be. It took a lot of willpower from Greenberg and his new wife Pat to get Sally admitted into the room. Greenberg begins to question and blame himself for not noticing any "signs" that Sally had been acting differently than most girls her age. The days grew longer in the room and Greenberg began to see how indifferent Sally's attitude was...... middle of paper ... total emotions. However, the book had some weaknesses, such as being very repetitive and Sally's actual condition in the hospital didn't seem very intriguing. I felt like a lot of the book dealt with Michael Greenberg's issues as a whole and that it didn't focus entirely on Sally's condition and her overall recovery process. I would recommend this book to others because it was an emotional drawing novel. It allows people to evaluate their own lives and cherish every aspect of it, because a “tragedy” like this really can happen to anyone. This book is especially interesting once someone has had an introduction to psychology since they can understand Sally's condition in depth, but the book could be enjoyable for anyone. I would also recommend this book to others due to the fact that it is not fiction and to be more empathetic towards people's struggles..