Piece of Mind

By: Michelle Adelman

Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert

At 27, Lucy knows everything about coffee, comic books, and Gus (the polar bear at the Central Park Zoo), and she possesses a rare gift for drawing. But since she suffered a traumatic brain injury at the age of three, she has had trouble relating to most people. She's also uncommonly messy, woefully disorganized, and incapable of holding down a regular job.

When her father's unexpected death forces her out of the comfortable and protective Jewish home where he cared for her and into a cramped studio apartment in New York City with her college-age younger brother, she must adapt to an entirely different life - one with no safety net. And when her "normal" brother snaps under the pressure and disappears, Lucy discovers that she has more strengths than she herself knew.

Told with warmth and intelligence, Piece of Mind introduces one of the most endearing and heroic characters in contemporary fiction.

©2016 Michelle Adelman. Recorded by arrangement with W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. (P)2016 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"Like the Tourettes-ticcing Lionel Essrog in Jonathan Lethem's Motherless Brooklyn, or the obsessive-compulsive Mona Gray in Aimee Bender's An Invisible Sign of My Own, Michelle Adelman's heroine - and she definitely is that - travels a path that is by nature solitary, yet intersects with all that is best in ourselves. I hope you'll root for Lucy's success as much as I do." (Helene Wecker, author of The Golem and the Jinni)

"From the first page of Piece of Mind, I fell in love with Lucy, its quirky, brave, funny heroine. And that feeling grew as she navigates her changing, often confusing, world. Michelle Adelman has created an unforgettable character and an unforgettable story." (Ann Hood)

" Piece of Mind is compulsively readable, built around a set of relatable, engaging characters and a compelling central problem for its protagonist." (Liz Moore)

slow

What would have made Piece of Mind better?

less....he said and she said and I saids

Would you ever listen to anything by Michelle Adelman again?

probably not

Which character – as performed by Tavia Gilbert – was your favorite?

she actually did good on all of them

What character would you cut from Piece of Mind?

none