Editorial Review: The Looney Bin by Stan Kapuchinski

Follow the hardworking and battle-hardened staff of this Southwestern Florida university mental health clinic as they each cope - or fail to cope - with their own inner turmoil as well as the folks' they are treating. With the boss of the clinic calling patients "consumers" and his main concern being focused on improving clinic efficiency in the eyes of the state, the mixture of doctors and counselors at the Palm University Mental Health Clinic are struggling to provide the care each of them thinks is needed. From qualified psychiatrists dispensing therapy or medications, to experimental counsellors designing their own treatments, to obsessives actively pushing their own beliefs on unwilling converts - it's a miracle the clinic has functioned as long as it has.New to the clinic, Felicity Steele is a religious fundamentalist who thinks shame and judgment are the way to bring her patients to Jesus. Jim just wants his wife to love him, to do a good job, and maybe even help some people. Hester thinks she is helping people by telling them exactly what to do and when to do it. Max is a walking harassment complaint dressed to the nines in manipulation and narcissism.  We first meet Jack as he recounts looking down the barrel of a gun in the hands of his unsettlingly calm patient. Jack is the kind of guy to tell this story, expecting the listener to crack a joke but is both annoyed and surprised when his wife is upset and concerned by this. After all, he had work to do and clients to see - it's really not that big of a deal. Except, of course, that it is and his own personal history and trauma around suicide isn't making anything any easier. His sarcastic and repressive nature is fighting tooth and nail to make the unpleasantness go away, but when the patient who threatened him actually kills himself Jack can't deny his own feelings anymore.The Looney Bin by Stan Kapuchinski is a genuinely gripping read that handles many tough topics like CSA, domestic violence, and suicide. It is certainly not for the faint of heart, though Kapuchinski's prose is often as entertaining as it is evocative. These are the kind of polarizing characters who make you angry, frustrated, sympathetic - they might be fictional but they bring out very real feelings in the reader. Gripping and evocative, Kapuchinski's The Looney Bin is a wild ride deep into the human condition that will compel you to keep reading.