Too Bright to Hear Too Loud to See

By: Juliann Garey

Narrated by: Dan Butler

In her tour-de-force first novel, Juliann Garey takes us inside the restless mind, ravaged heart, and anguished soul of Greyson Todd, a successful Hollywood studio executive who leaves his wife and young daughter and for a decade travels the world giving free reign to the bipolar disorder he's been forced to keep hidden for almost 20 years.

The novel intricately weaves together three timelines: the story of Greyson's travels (Rome, Israel, Santiago, Thailand, Uganda); the progressive unraveling of his own father seen through Greyson's eyes as a child; and the intimacies and estrangements of his marriage. The entire narrative unfolds in the time it takes him to undergo 12 30-second electroshock treatments in a New York psychiatric ward. This is a literary page-turner of the first order, and a brilliant inside look at mental illness.

©2012 Juliann Garey (P)2012 AudioGO

When the universe is stacked against you

Excellent! What a poignant and fortright telling of the struggle with mental illness. It was beautifully written and eloquently read. My favorite part was his reuniting with a daughter he no longer recognizes. And their slow progress in reconnecting. It shows the stigma of the illness of the mind and heartbreaking pain and anguish of the sufferers. Its not sugar coated. But, deals with it very honestly. The pain, the loss and the utter feelings of hopelessness and despair. I loved this book. I hope many others will read this and come away more enlightened, even if only just a little. "A must read"

bipolar experience

a pretty empathetic portrayal of one man's life with bipolar people. both himself and his own father, it was great to juxtapose the effect of bd on 2 lives.

A story of a lifetime of Depression.

If you can handle the emotional ups and downs of manic depression this is a good book. It doesn't soften the edges of the life of not only the those inflicted but also those around them. Best read on a sunny day.

moving story and fantastic narrator

I'm not sure what all the complaints were about regardng the explicit scenes. I found them integral to the story and created even more depth to Grayson's journey. a must read for anyone who loves someone with a mental illness.

Very Good!

Credible development of a bipolar character as well as the people around him. The format is structurally interesting. Overall this was a very well written book. I purchased it randomly and was pleasantly surprised. Note that I normally dislike works by female authors, since they tend to be sentimental and focus on gender issues. This book was remarkably gender neutral.

I wanted to stop listening!

Any additional comments?

The story compelled me to continue listening even though, at times, I wanted to return the book. I really wanted to hear and make sense of what was happening. Parts of the story was awful and sad. I've never, to my knowledge, encountered a person with such emotional strife. One reviewer said "A gripping tale of a man's unraveling." Nothing can sum up this book better. I appreciated the ending and was truly in tears. I'm glad I listened to the book because I believe that my understanding of mental illness has quite expanded.

Relentless

The publisher's summary does a faithful description of this book, but does not begin to accentuate the stunning, shocking detail of the writing. Although the subject matter is not for the faint of heart (and at times can be downright repulsive!), the description of mental illness in Garey's moving, relentless prose is nothing short of art.
I've been bored by much of the recent, highly-rated fiction on offer. The "Hollywood Ending," the "weird-for-weird's-sake," the "sex-as-shock-value." Too Bright; Too Loud eschews all of that and instead takes the reader on a believable (if relentless) journey into the mind of a sufferer of bi-polar disorder. Greyson's personal journey is foreshadowed by the journey of his own father, and that mirroring (IMO) is the brilliance of this book. No further spoilers!
If you are squeamish about sex/ drug/ alcohol abuse, and/or you don't do well with explicit language, go elsewhere: this book will blast you. If you seek compelling narrative, believable characters and real-life drama (and can handle the truth!) this book might be for you. It opens a window to the understanding of bi-polar disorder and the genesis and progression of the disease. Its protagonist represents a pathologically flawed and yet "loveable" character, and in the end (no spoilers) offers a glimmer of hope for suffers and those who love (and are created by) them.
The narrator was perfect, in my opinion.
Downsides: the prose is relentless and gritty, sometimes revolting. Really gross. The narration spans about 40 years of history, given in piecemeal vignettes. I often find this kind of structure frustrating in audio format because it's difficult to refer to previous episodes in an effort to accurately track the progression of the overall narrative.
Final comment: I enjoyed this novel a great deal and recommend it to readers who are looking for something vibrant, meaningful and real.

Loved it

Gripped my attention early and held it to the end. Ok end was weak but rest was extraordinary. Yes it has filthy parts, yes it is for adults who like something beside shlock. Yes it is shocking at times. If you go to church regularly and blush at adult themes stay away. And curl up with a nice predictable book full of bad things happening to wonderful people,

Not for everyone, I liked it a lot!!

The way anxiety, mania, psychosis, and depression are presented may make some people uncomfortable.
I thought it was really well written, some passages are very poetic.

Raw, captivating, heart-wrenching read.

The author, a sufferer of bipolar disorder herself, wrote a truly insightful novel into the mind of a character plagued with a difficult mental disorder. At times, this novel was hard to listen to. I often found the main character distasteful but I could not stop listening. All in all a really interesting read, with a terrific yet appropriate ending. Definitely recommend to those not of the faint at heart due to the graphic nature of the character's flaws.