Gracefully Insane

by Alex Beam

Gracefully Insane


At a glance:

Newspaper columnist Alex Beam spent years gathering material for Gracefully Insane: The Rise and Fall of America’s Premier Mental Hospital, initially planning to compile an oral history of McLean Hospital from interviews with past and current doctors, patients, and nurses associated with McLean. Beam saw the Belmont, Massachusetts, hospital’s history as a reflection of Boston’s history and culture. Established in the late nineteenth century a few miles outside Boston, several of McLean’s original buildings were named after wealthy Bostonians, and many prominent figures...

(The entire page is 1913 words.)

Want to read the whole thing?

Subscribe now to read the rest of this article. Plus, get access to:

  • 30,000+ literature study guides
  • Critical essays on more than 30,000 works of literature from Salem on Literature (exclusive to eNotes)
  • An unparalleled literary criticism section. 40,000 full-length or excerpted essays.
  • Content from leading academic publishers, all easily citable with our "Cite this page" button.
  • 100% satisfaction guarantee READ MORE