
Hidden Valley Road
Inside the Mind of an American Family
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Narrated by:
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Sean Pratt
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By:
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Robert Kolker
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • ONE OF GQ's TOP 50 BOOKS OF LITERARY JOURNALISM IN THE 21st CENTURY • The heartrending story of a midcentury American family with twelve children, six of them diagnosed with schizophrenia, that became science's great hope in the quest to understand the disease.
"Reads like a medical detective journey and sheds light on a topic so many of us face: mental illness."—Oprah Winfrey
Don and Mimi Galvin seemed to be living the American dream. After World War II, Don's work with the Air Force brought them to Colorado, where their 12 children perfectly spanned the baby boom: the oldest born in 1945, the youngest in 1965. In those years, there was an established script for a family like the Galvins—aspiration, hard work, upward mobility, domestic harmony—and they worked hard to play their parts. But behind the scenes was a different story: psychological breakdown, sudden shocking violence, hidden abuse. By the mid-1970s, six of the 10 Galvin boys, one after another, were diagnosed as schizophrenic. How could all this happen to one family?
What took place inside the house on Hidden Valley Road was so extraordinary that the Galvins became one of the first families to be studied by the National Institute of Mental Health. Their story offers a shadow history of the science of schizophrenia, from the era of institutionalization, lobotomy, and the schizophrenogenic mother to the search for genetic markers for the disease, always amid profound disagreements about the nature of the illness itself. And unbeknownst to the Galvins, samples of their DNA informed decades of genetic research that continues today, offering paths to treatment, prediction, and even eradication of the disease for future generations.
With clarity and compassion, best-selling and award-winning author Robert Kolker uncovers one family's unforgettable legacy of suffering, love, and hope.
©2020 Robert Kolker (P)2020 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...




















Critic reviews
“Hidden Valley Road is a riveting true story of an American family that reads like a medical detective journey and sheds light on a topic so many of us face: mental illness.” —Oprah Winfrey
“A feat of empathy and narrative journalism.”—Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times
“Magisterial . . . A weave of gripping reportage and scientific detective story . . . Hidden Valley Road is destined to become a classic of narrative nonfiction.”—Hamilton Cain, Minneapolis Star Tribune
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Intriguing!
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A Must Listen
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I work in mental health in Colorado and this makes me want to work that much harder on behalf of the clients and families we serve with mental illness.
This one is near and dear to me for my own reasons, too. I’ll be reading it a second time.
Fascinating, Gut-Wrenching and Human Book
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thanks to the Galvan family for their candor and generosity. thanks to the scientists who continue the hunt for a cause and a cure.
fascinating and beautiful
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It gives you lots of details and it makes you to appreciate more your life.
Great performance: English is my second language, but I understood everything.
Awesome!!!
What a story!!!
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Incredible story!
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Great story well told.
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A very good read!!!
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I felt like a fly on the wall at Hidden Valley Rd.
I am proud of all the medical and research individuals and teams who have achieved advancements in understanding and treating mental health issues. This work demonstrates how important it is to participate in trials and studies.
insight into insanity
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Wonderful
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