Mother

Mother: A Memoir follows the turbulent relationship between the author's mentally ill Pakistani mother and the author himself who carries the same mental illness. From living together in the slums of New York City's Lower East Side in the 1980s through the author's education in Connecticut and the several hospitalizations he has to confront, Mother is a powerful and unforgettable read that tries to be as honest as possible in portraying what ought to be a loving relationship between a mother and her son but strays far from that ideal into the areas of abuse, poverty, and crushing mental illness. "A brutally honest book about growing up with-and around-mental illness. This should be required reading for anyone who seeks to understand its impact on families." -Rone Shavers, Co-Editor, Paper Empire: William Gaddis and the World System "Havel rips the blinds off of family destiny, a memoir of thwarted love and tragedy. He writes as he walks, strolling, back through layers of time to the conclusive moment at the core of everything. Smoke from an ever-present fire leaks from page to page. The reader will never see-or smoke-cigarettes in quite the same way again." -Allen Parmenter, Freelance Writer "A well-written and very honest story of the relationship between mother and son. He puts you into the story, explaining the emotions and the struggles of mental illness." -Patti Mutterer, Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner, Albany County Mental Health