Sybil Exposed: The Extraordinary Story Behind The Famous Multiple Personality Case (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
I wanted to read this because I actually just read Sybil for the first time fairly recently. This did NOT require an entire book and I really hate when people stretch what could have been a 5 page magazine article into a bloated non-fiction book full of irrelevant and boring facts and details. Basically almost all of Sybil was fiction and she never had multiple personalities. Is that interesting to know and find out how that happened? Yes. Did it require an entire book? No. If you've read the original book that this is based on you'll probably come away with a mixture of emotions about both by the time you finish 'Sybil Exposed'. I have to applaud Debbie Nathan for her clearly exhaustive research and dedication to trying to arrive at a kind of truth surrounding Sybil's fantastic life story. I read 'Sybil' maybe 12-13 years ago and found it quite captivating. It's written like a novel and is dramatic, lurid, shocking and hard to put down. I won't lie that I found myself buying into at least some of it - people can do some really horrific stuff to their children. But it also seems so outlandish, so media ready, that it's hard to not be skeptical. But if Nathan's book is to be believed, one should be far more than skeptical of the original text.Much like the book it purports to expose, 'Sybil Exposed' is a page turner; alternately reading like a well-researched, non-fiction tome and like a gripping, psychological thriller full of twists and surprises galore. I find myself leaning more toward Nathan's telling of things because when she lays out all of the harshest details of Sybil's alleged abuse at her mother's hand alongside the alleged total lack of even a shred of evidence, it all seems rather impossible to believe. But I also know how horribly difficult it can be for victims if abuse to find support and validation, so I will always find myself torn in such situations. What is clear, if nothing more, is Cornelia Wilbur crossed countless ethical and professional boundaries in her therapeutic work and relied heavily on mind-altering drugs that have since been proven to heavily impact and influence a patient's perceptions, memories and sense of self. And it also seems quite clear that Wilbur, author Flora Schrieber and even Shirley Mason (aka Sybil) were quite driven by a desire for fame and success of one sort or another. What complicates things is Nathan's clear dislike for Schrieber and Wilbur and it's difficult to not feel like a bias is driving her work. But if what she's written is even half true, it would be hard not to echo her dislike.In the end, though, the book is fascinating. It brings issues of abuse, abuse of power, mental health practices, cultural trends and media influences and the allure of fame to the forefront in a powerful way. It also highlights how an intense, extreme religious upbringing can have a huge impact on someone's mental and emotional health. The late-in-the-book reveal of Mason's diagnosis of pernicious anemia seems both revelatory and almost too neat and tidy. But it would go a long way in explaining her symptoms if MPD was not really what was at play. At any rate, the book is fascinating and worth a read.
What do You think about Sybil Exposed: The Extraordinary Story Behind The Famous Multiple Personality Case (2011)?
Add a half. The true story is not nearly as interesting as the fake story.
—Eva
Intriguing.Enjoyed it.Mush more academic than SYBIL.
—amz97
