I am 15 years old and I read this book for a Schizophrenia research paper. Mark Vonnegut has been my doctor in Boston all of my life. It was an interesting journey to explore through HIS perspective of his own experience... Highly Reccomend it!

There are only a handful of memoirs about schizophrenia, and this book and "The Quiet Room" are probably the best ones available. The author apparently inherited his father's excellent writing and storytelling abilities, as this is an engaging and insightful description of life in the 1960s and the descent into and emergence from schizophrenia. The description of the illness alone makes the book worth reading, and is in some ways reminiscent of "Darkness Visible" and "The Bell Jar". The book is also quite humorous. Highly recommended. Avery Z. Conner, author of "Fevers of the Mind".

I had taken several classes in psychology in college and really thought that I had a grasp of what it was like to live with schizophrenia. Not so! This book takes you into the world and mind of a person with this disorder. Mark Vonnegut is so honest and open and you really gain a real world feel for what it is to be a person living with schizophrenia. If you are at all interested in this topic, I really feel it is a must read!

I'll be honest with you: I read Mark Vonnegut's book because he is Kurt Vonnegut's son. The elder Mr. Vonnegut mentions it one of his books (I don't remember which one, but I'm pretty sure it's Fates Worse Than Death, or maybe Timequake), and I probably would never have picked it up (or even heard of it) otherwise. That said, it is a fascinating and very delightful book, full of insight and well worth reading. Not many books tackle the admittedly difficult issue of describing insanity from the inside out (i.e., in the form of a first-person recollection), and this book is truly useful for those looking for such a work. It's hard to imagine anyone doing it better. I can see this as a practical "must read" for medical professionals looking to identify more closely with their patients, or for anyone who just wants a more personal account of the subject matter than that often offered by dry, sterile medical textbooks. Mark's writing style is quite good, but also highly personal. He doesn't seem aloof or like somebody with whom we can't identify (as many people who have experienced mental illnesses inevitably do): he seems like just one of us. The emotions and problems he was going through are certainly things that many of us can relate to (especially those of us who lived through the times that the the book describes) - although the cause for his schizophrenia was never, of course, fully discovered, a lot of things, as Mark says, "happened all at once": his steady girlfriend cheating on him, his parents breaking up, his father becoming famous. Although Mark's writing style is nothing like his father's, the two do share a similar sense of humor. This, coupled with the delightfully personal aspect of the prose, makes this a great read for those interested in its subject matter. Reccommended.

Perhaps eclipsed by his more famous father, Mark Vonnegut has never received the recognition he deserves for this fine work. Courageous, honest and at times extremely funny, Mark tells his tale of madness without a hint of the pretension that often creeps into such works. Especially interesting is the way he tries to reconcile his schizophrenia with the hippie lifestyle he was living in the 60's, when many thought the line between sanity and madness was nonexistant at best, and that "madness is a sane response to an insane society." After a prolonged hell where he lost the ability to eat, sleep, or have a moment's peace, Mark ended up embracing and being helped by good old fashioned square western medicine, without losing the depth or sincerity of his countercultural leanings. His evocation of the experience of madness itself outstrips anything I have ever read on the topic. A very good book.

I came upon Mark Vonnegut's book during a summer of unemployment. I read Kerouac, Burroughs, Ginsberg, and all the first person accounts of Woodstock. I read Kurt Vonnegut, and in a lucky stroll through the Sci-fi section, I read Kilgore Trout's 'Venus on the Half Shell'. When I came upon Mark Vonnegut's book, Eden Express, I thought I was getting into a 'son-of' phase.
Eden Express details the experiences of Mark Vonnegut as he comes to terms with a brain and a mind that no longer follow his dictates. It is a tale of hard lessons, filtered through expectation and dreams.A book of exploration, it ends on a note of healing; it encourages self determination with respect to treatment. It is a thoughtful examination of ability, hope, and healing.
I sincerely hope Mr. Vonnegut reissues this book, and offers his impressions since his earliest struggles with mental illness.
"It is no measure of sanity to be well-adjusted to a profoundly sick society" Krishna Murti
Thank you Mark... and best wishes.

Well, the perfect companion to La Morte d'Arthur...

Twain completely dissects the "good ol' days" of Arthurian Britain by exposing the vicious social practices of the time: white slavery, le droit de seigneur, confiscation of property in event of suicide, the complete lack of impartial justice, the degrading influence of the Church on the mass, etcetera etcetera etcetera...

The Arthurian legends are wonderful tales, but they are a mythic literary production; Twain deals with the brutal reality of daily living in the Dark Ages, and points out that the good ol' days were not so good, anyway.

As for its applicability to modern America, I am not fit to judge. Perhaps it's there. But "The Connecticut Yankee" is a wonderful tonic for those prone to romanticizing the past. Twain seems to agree with Tom Paine that the English nobility were "no-ability", and simply the latest in a series of robbers.

And, of course, the book is stuffed with wonderful Twainisms... My favorite is his observation that a conscience is a very inconvenient thing, and the significant difference between a conscience and an anvil is that, if you had an anvil inside you, it would be alot less uncomfortable than having the conscience.

Twain also mentions the beautiful mispronunciations of childhood, and how the bereaved parental ear listens in vain for them once children have grown.

You'll never look at castles the same again...

"A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" is one of those rarest literary treasures: a comedy that, for all it's hilarity, actually has both a heart and a brain. Not just a set of cheap laughs, as most comedy of any sort is, Mark Twain's classic novel enlightens as it entertains, throwing an unflinching spotlight on the darker elements of human nature both in the Utopian (to our eyes) Camelot and of modern capitalism and the American Dream.

The plot is a familiar one in our age of sci-fi and fantasy, though it was innovative when Twain conceived it: Hank Morgan, an enterprising 19th-century engineer, is knocked unconscious and comes to in King Arthur's fabled Camelot. Bewildered but determined to make the best of the situation, Morgan uses his knowledge of history and mechanical skills to convince everyone he is a super-magician greater than even Merlin. Once ensconced as the King's right-hand man, Morgan sets about reforming the country into a republic, a sort of prototype America. Most of the book follows Morgan through a series of haphazard adventures which Twain uses to illuminate the great but often forgotten evils of the Dark Ages, including the abuses of the Catholic Church, the ignorant and useless ruling body that inevitably arises from a monarchy, and the pitiful working conditions of the medieval peasant or slave.

Nor is Twain's critical eye trained only on the far-flung past. Though Morgan is essentially a sympathetic figure, he struggles to find anything the least bit admirable about the knights and nobles he must live with, and considers the chivalric code merely fit for derision. Meanwhile, Morgan's own capitalist code is in full effect, and he takes advantage of every opportunity to cash in his advanced education for the big bucks.

Colorful and sublimely written, Twain's time-travel masterpiece is both a magical fantasy and a stinging dystopian satire. Don't be fooled by the several movie versions of this story, some of which are great fun in their own right. Yes, the novel is funny, often riotously so, but the humorous skin hides a deadly earnestness beneath, and the finale is far less optimistic than one who has first seen the film versions will doubtless expect. A deservedly immortal literary gem.

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court is an interesting novel written by Mark Twain. This is a fantastic book for the high school level reader, but would be entertaining to adults as well. In this novel the main character, Hank Morgan, is mysteriously transported from the nineteenth century in Connecticut back to the fifth century in England. During his time in medieval Britain, he keeps a journal which is what most of this book is. The preface and afterwards are both the narration of Mark Twain who writes as if he has found Hank's journal, and is merely writing it down in a book. As the journal starts out, Hank is introduced to King Arthur and after narrowly escaping death and becomes the country's most powerful advisor. Hank introduces many modern wonders to this feudal society. He is hailed a magician, being able to perform wonderful "miracles" and "magic", when it really is only modern science. It is very entertaining to read about how the feeble-minded people of that time react to these feats. In the end, there is a tremendous battle with many exciting episodes leading up to it. If a reader is partial to battle scenes of high caliber, this is a book for him! Of course, Hank has many other battles as well. Once of his biggest enemies is the Church of England. The big question the reader asks themselves during this book is "Will Hank return to his time and if so, how?". It was exciting for me to ponder this question throughout the novel. During Hank's travels through medieval Britain, he meets many people. The people he meets who think a government ruled by the people in Britain (his ultimate goal) would be a good idea, he sends to Camelot where he has schools set up which teach people about modern governmental ideas. Schools were also set up to teach people how to produce his wonders of modern science. These few enlightened people remain loyal to Hank until the very end. I thought it an entertaining notion that people, who were trained from birth to believe in one thing, could realize its faults and begin to believe another things. I really enjoy this book because it brings a lot about human nature into question. It discusses the vast differences of beliefs, manners, and life styles between one hundred years ago and fourteen hundred years ago. I also thought the differences between classic Arthurian legend and Mark Twain's perspective of the time was very interesting. Hanks training of these idealistic people he runs across plays into the large political aspect of this book. Since Hank's ultimate goal is to transform Britain into a country ruled by the people, he starts factories producing modern goods, which greatly changes the lives of the Britons. I enjoyed the descriptions of the people's reaction to these modern products of science thirteen centuries before they would be invented. Throughout the entire book commentary and philosophizing concerning the comparison of the fifth century feudal system of Britain and the nineteenth century democracy of the U.S. by Hank Morgan is common. This political aspect is typical of Twain's works. It gave me great pleasure to read this aspect of the book and to comprehend it's meaning. Through Hank Morgan, Mark Twain is able to depict vivid images in the readers mind. Whether it is a person, scene, or sensation felt by Hank Twain describes it in a way that puts a solid picture in the imagination of the reader. I have not seen the movie of this novel, but I have heard it isn't very well done and it is nothing compared to the book. I believe this is because Mark Twain paints such a realistic picture in the mind of the reader, it is nothing compared to what some director can film. From Mark Twain's great descriptions and writing style to the unique ideas presented, the novel A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court is a fantastic novel. There are so many aspects of it to enjoy, and it is just an all around entertaining book. I give this book four out of five stars and I recommend it to any one interested in fantasy, especially if they want a different perspective on King Arthur.

BY: Christian J. Vazquez