The Minds of Billy Milligan

By: Daniel Keyes

Narrated by: Roger Wayne

Length: 15 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

Billy Milligan can be anyone he wants to be … except himself.

Out of control of his actions, Billy Milligan was a man tormented by twenty-four distinct personalities battling for supremacy over his body—a battle that culminated when he awoke in jail, arrested for the kidnap and rape of three women. In a landmark trial, Billy was acquitted of his crimes by reason of insanity caused by multiple personality—the first such court decision in history—bringing to public light the most remarkable and harrowing case of multiple personality ever recorded.

Twenty-four people live inside Billy Milligan.

Philip, a petty criminal; Kevin, who dealt drugs and masterminded a drugstore robbery; April, whose only ambition was to kill Billy’s stepfather; Adalana, the shy, lonely, affection-starved lesbian who “used” Billy’s body in the rapes that led to his arrest; David, the eight-year-old “keeper of pain”; and all of the others, including men, women, several children, and the teacher, the only one who can put them all together. You will meet each in this often shocking true story. And you will be drawn deeply into the mind of this tortured young man and his splintered, terrifying world.

©1981, 1982 Daniel Keyes and William S. Milligan (P)2022 Blackstone Publishing

Very interesting true story with perfect narration

Really enjoyed this book. I felt that the narrator was the perfect choice for this book. All of the different voices he had to use for each of the personalities is what I enjoyed the most

Incredible

Great performance, amazing insights into the mind, perfect composition of details and narrative. I’m sad it ended!

Totally entertaining and eye opening

I saw the TV show first, but the book was way better for me. I highly recommend it. I learned from this book too and highly recommend it.

Just boring

Saying the same so much over and over. It was clear what had caused this to happen to him very quickly but so slow to say the cause

Interesting and enjoyable!

Started watching The Crowded Room and found this while waiting for the next episode to drop.

Very intriguing story about Billy and his other personalities. It was very detailed and I enjoyed the glimpse into his mind.

Weak Believability

Whereas, I appreciate the authors attempt to piece together conversations among the personalities and outside people, I found them weak and unbelievable. The general story of a man with multiple personalities was interesting. Unfortunately, the portrayal was lacking.

Poor editing

There are several lines that are repeated… Very frustrating to listen to. Overall good story though.

Great story, outstanding performance!

Story was a bit hard to follow, but overall great! Would recommend. Definitely provides some insight into the mind of someone with multiple personalities and had me hooked throughout. I was intrigued by all that Billy had gone through and what the system continued to put him through as he learned to live with his mental illness. I couldn’t stop listening!

Phenomenal

Brilliantly woven chronicle of what had to have been a tortured life. An inhumane suffering compounded by the legal and medical system’s themselves.

Great Reading of a Complex Man

I thought that the performance by the narrator was fantastic. After watching “The Crowded Room” Apple+ TV series, I wanted to read/listen to this book to get a more in depth story of Billie Milligan’s multiple personalities and this book delivered. The narrator’s voice even sounded like Tom Holland who expertly played Danny (aka Milligan) in the series. Very interesting book of a heartbreaking true story that takes place in the late 1970s.