Greyson Todd is a very wealthy and successful Hollywood agent and studio executive. Normally a central character like that would be enough to put me off the book, but the sterling reviews of it let me know that it was a penetrating description of mental illness, which intrigued me. Todd suffers from bipolar disorder, and the book, while jumping around in time, shows his experiences growing up with his bipolar father, developing the mental illness as a young man, struggling to live with it through medication, abandoning his family and spending a decade wandering the world with full blown mental illness, and finally his institutionalization in a mental hospital for treatment.

It's an exceptional look at what's going on in the head of someone who is mentally ill, whose brain is so wildly misinterpreting reality, unfortunately with extremely negative consequences. ( )

This book depicts one man’s journey through untreated bipolar disorder. The narrator, Greyson Todd, is in a mental institution receiving electroconvulsive therapy. He tells his story in non-linear flashbacks from his childhood to what he can recall of his recent past. The first three quarters of this book are incredibly gut-wrenching, as the reader watches Greyson self-destruct and suffer psychotic breaks. The last section, Aftershocks, is the most powerful and provides a small glimmer of hope.

I am not sure why the author decided to make the protagonist a privileged Hollywood executive with unlimited funds. It seemed a device to allow him to travel the world to exotic places in order to depict licentiousness in excruciating detail. Be prepared for a surfeit of sex, drugs, alcohol, self-harm, and bodily functions.

I have a friend whose husband had this disorder, and this story seems realistic, at least from hearing secondhand about that experience. Her husband is no longer with us. This book is not pleasant reading, but it makes a significant point. I hope it conveys the importance of staying on prescribed medication to treat this life-threatening condition.
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Stunningly. Brilliant. I am speechless about how great this book is. Thank you to my GR friends who have read it for bringing it to my attention. Simply superb. ( )

Too Bright to Hear Too Loud to See by Juliann Garey chronicles the tortured life of Greyson Todd. Greyson suffers from bi-polar disorder, a fact he's tried to keep concealed and resisted for years. In the opening he is successful Hollywood studio executive who leaves his wife and daughter. He subsequently spends a decade traveling around the world, his mental health slowly disassembling as his illness progresses unchecked until he ends up in a New York psychiatric hospital.

During the time he is receiving twelve thirty second electroshock treatments, three intertwined timelines in Grayson's life are expertly presented in short chapters. The three timelines include: Greyson as a child/young man dealing with his own father's struggles with mental health; Greyson as a married man and father grappling with his own depression; and the decade of Grayson traveling, when his unrestrained bipolar disorder races toward a manic state.

As Grayson recounts:
"That was fun. While it lasted. But it didn’t. It never does. And now, it—all of it—is too much. Too hot. Too bright to hear. Too loud to see. And with no way to turn it down, there is no sleep, nothing to stop the onslaught. (Location 1960-1963)"

For a debut novel, Too Bright to Hear Too Loud to See is certainly a spectacular achievement for author Juliann Garey. It is a real page turner. While reading you know where Grayson is heading, but have no idea of all the agony and turmoil he goes through before he gets to the psych unit. At times it can be a gritty novel. Not only is Grayson full of acrimony, sarcasm, and rage at times, he is also drawn in a self destructive state to lurid places and risky behavior. At the same time, on some level, Grayson knows where he is heading and he is terrified of his fate; juxtaposed to this is Grayson's occasionally witty, acute, and insightful recognition of his actions and situation.

Combining skillful writing and great pacing, Garey made Grayson into a real, compelling character. Even if you are disgusted by his actions, you have sympathy for him because you know he needs help. You know he knows he needs help, on some level, even while he makes a self-destructive run away from getting help or admitting he needs help. Too Bright to Hear Too Loud to See is certainly a masterful accomplishment.

Very Highly Recommended - not an easy read but a stunning debut novel
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Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of Random House's Soho Press and Netgalley for review purposes.
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Vivid portrayal of bipolar disorder. Absorbing, horrifying, and empathy-creating. Not universally liked in my book club. ( )