- The prose is often beautiful, if harrowing, and readers will have sympathy for Joiner’s utter determination to find a way to live with her condition… An affecting, honest memoir useful to anyone trying to understand life with psychosis.
– Kirkus Review (read full review) - Unlike few memoirs I’ve read, Sherry Joiner has turned her potentially tragic story into art.
— Julie A. Fast, Best Selling Mental Health Author - Sherry Goes Sane is a remarkable journal documenting Sherry Joiner’s passage from the initial diagnosis in her teens, through the dark jungle of psychosis to a point where she has developed a mastery of her condition and her life. Her book is a beacon of hope for others who suffer similar challenges as well as for their families, and is a wonderful testimony to the strength and resilience of the human spirit.
— Ward Tolbert Smith, MD - This is a remarkable book, written by a courageous survivor. I encourage people from all walks of life to buy and read it from cover to cover. The first few chapters feel chaotic and pressured… keep reading, persevere. That was life for the author. The genius of the book is partly how it moves from tragedy and disorder to triumph and serenity. I was moved to tears in parts, and then finished reading feeling like I shared the victory of a life gone sane. This is the story of a remarkable woman overcoming seemingly overwhelming challenges and beating the odds. Brava!
– Amanda Fritz, Portland City Commissioner - This vivid narrative delivers a powerful first-person impression of the author’s lifelong struggle to grasp reality, hold on to it, and thrive as a fully functioning person. Her struggle has been doubly difficult, because the reality she sought has so often been abusive, heartbreaking, or tragic. But with love and determination, she is winning her ongoing battle, and her gentle, positive spirit strides brightly through.
– Jim Stinson - Just as Sherry alluded in chapter 5 to her meeting me and my husband when she was a high-school sophomore, we had interaction with her for many years and especially after 1971, when she visited us on many occasions and stayed in our Coos Bay home many times. On some occasions she seemed perfectly normal, and at other times we could tell she was definitely unbalanced. To this day, she and Joe and I get together several times each year to catch up on one another’s lives. I have followed her remarkable journey to sanity with amazement and admiration, as she continues her art and her work to help others in so many ways to find their true selves and ways to relate to the world around them. Her antiwar views on Vietnam connect to the rest of her life’s story as a peace-loving, politically liberal-minded person. This continues to build a strong bond throughout her life, and today she is an active, outspoken voice in Portland political circles as well as in her most important work for NAMI.
– Mitzi Asai Loftus, author of From Here to Everywhere - Sherry Goes Sane takes you on a captivating journey that dives into the intricate patterns and thoughts of a mind unraveling, while at the same time witnessing the blossoming of one of the most beautiful and loving recovery stories to date. A spectacular life filled with struggle, hope, love, inspiration, and determination must be shared.
– Jeana L. Wheeler, PSS - Sherry Goes Sane is an honest, raw, and intimate account of one woman’s brave journey to find her sanity. I commend Sherry for exposing the details of her illness, compounded by physical abuse, and how she overcame these obstacles to be the vibrant person she is today. By sharing her story in her own words, Sherry inspires hope that someone living with schizo-affective disorder can reach a place of happiness and stability.
– Amy Myers, formerly of NAMI Multnomah
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Arts and Writing by Sherry 