Thirty Rooms to Hide In : Insanity, Addiction, and Rock n Roll in the Shadow of the Mayo Clinic PDF
Preview Thirty Rooms to Hide In : Insanity, Addiction, and Rock n Roll in the Shadow of the Mayo Clinic
THIRTY ROOMS TO HIDE IN This page intentionally left blank THIRTY ROOMS TO HIDE IN Insanity, Addiction, and Rock ’n’ Roll in the Shadow of the Mayo Clinic LUKE LONGSTREET SULLIVAN University of Minnesota Press Minneapolis • London Readers interested in seeing more about the Sullivan family, including letters, photographs, and home movies, may visit the website thirtyroomstohidein.com. A prior edition of this book was published in electronic and print-on-demand formats. Th e photograph on page 294 by Shelley Aubin. Photographs on page 300 by Susie Blackmun. Th e illustration of the Millstone’s gate light on title page courtesy of Tom Lichtenheld. Copyright 2012 by Luke Longstreet Sullivan All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Published by the University of Minnesota Press 111 Th ird Avenue South, Suite 290 Minneapolis, MN 55401-2520 http://www.upress.umn.edu Design and composition by Yvonne Tsang, Wilsted & Taylor Publishing Services Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sullivan, Luke. Th irty rooms to hide in : insanity, addiction, and rock ’n’ roll in the shadow of the Mayo Clinic / Luke Longstreet Sullivan. ISBN 978-0-8166-7955-3 (hc : alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-8166-7971-3 (pb : alk. paper) 1. Sullivan, Luke—Health. 2. Orthopedists—United States—Biography. 3. Alcoholics—Family relationships—United States—Biography. 4. Mentally ill—Family relationships—United States—Biography. 5. Children of the mentally ill—United States—Biography. I. Title. RD727.S85 2012 362.292092—dc23 [B] 2012017395 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper Th e University of Minnesota is an equal-opportunity educator and employer. 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Gone A poem by my mother, 1981 You disappeared before they were born, all of them— except maybe the fi rst when you weren’t quite gone just beginning to go— not over a cliff with punctilious grace leaving me most of a body to mourn; not with somebody’s gaudy wife a fl ick of rue on your face a farewell fl ourish on the MG’s horn and a monthly check to prove your going was done. No, you just disappeared in bits, like grain from a sack invaded by rats a farmer fi nds still standing in the corner, empty. This page intentionally left blank Contents Funeral 1 Th e Millstone 5 Skeletons in the Closet 9 Bone Doctors 15 Grandma Rock Sentences Everyone to Hell 21 Little Christians, All in a Row 27 Little Monsters in Every Room 33 Memory: Th rowing Up 36 A Library of Her Own 39 Forts, Death, and Bedtime 45 Cold War 51 Five O’clock Shadow 55 Head X-ray: Roger in 1957 57 Shit Gathers in General Area of Fan 59 Cyclops and the Fallout Shelter 65 Memory: Dad Helps with Homework 68 Hidden Books, Hidden Letters 71 Eleven Twenty-Two 77 Fun at the Foot of the Volcano 81 Rat Helicopters 89 Cause of Death: Unknown 93 Th e Pagans 97 “Spats with the Wife” 103 Memory: I Am “Suave Ghost” 107 Th e Alcoholic’s Guide to Ruining Evenings 109 Snowballs Somehow Made in Hell 115 Memory: I Am “Little Brother Man” 119 Leaving the Millstone 123 “We’ve Always Lived in Th is Castle” 129 Haunted House 135 Ceiling Tiles over a Psychiatrist’s Couch 141 Memory: I Am “Quiet Man” 144 Th ings Th at Were Scarier Th an Dad 147 Baba Yaga 161 Memory: I Am the Fift h Beatle 163 Hiding in the Bathroom from Bullets 167 Hiding in the Tower Library 175 Memory: I Am the Incredible Hulk 176 Memory: I Am “Lonely Guy” 177 Pagan Rites 181 Eye of the Hurricane 187 No Help from God 191 Case #34233 195 Daydream: I Am “the Bullshit Police” 196 Suicide 201 One Last Good Christmas 205 Tiny Details in Family Pictures 211 Daydream: I Save Dad 213 Goodnight, Irene 217 Whiteout/Blackout 223 Meltdown in West Palm Beach 229 “Do I Owe You Any Money?” 233 Th e Famous Final Scene 237 Zee Tortured Arteest 241 Phone Calls from the Dead 245 Th is Mortal Coil 249 Room 50 251 Th e Irish Flu 255 Sunday, July 3, 1966 259 Pagans in the Temple 267 One Last Look 271 Sunlight Streams through a High Window 275 I Believe in God Briefl y 279 Th e Big Bad World 283 Take a Sad Song and Make It Better 289 Th is Very Room 295 “And Every Winter Change to Spring” 301 Epilogue 304 Acknowledgments 305 Author’s Note 305
Description:The list of books you might like
