The Minds of Billy Milligan [Hardcover]

Daniel Keyes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1981

A portrait of a tortured young man, arrested for a series of kidnappings and rapes, explores the world of a multiple personality, whose traumatic childhood shattered his mind into twenty-four distinct personalities. Reissue.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 374 pages
• Publisher: Random House Inc (T); 1st edition (October 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394519434
• ISBN-13: 978-0394519432
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #458,011 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Daniel Keyes was born in Brooklyn, New York, and received his B.A. and M.A. degrees from Brooklyn College. He has worked as a merchant seaman, fiction editor, high school teacher, and university professor. The author of eight books, he lives in Boca Raton, Florida.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding! I am so glad it is back in print., June 26, 2000

By 

Alice Phillips - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Minds of Billy Milligan (Mass Market Paperback)

I am a psychiatrist who subspecializes in working with patients with dissociative disorders. I read this book several years ago gave my copy to a colleague -- never to see it again. When I tried to replace it, it was out of print. I was crushed.

I loved it the first time and I love it even more this time. The author does such a fine job of using all of his skills to bring out the experience of multiplicity. It is a tremendous contribution to both professionals and the public. Just as in the story there were many people who didn't "believe" in the diagnosis -- even now, over 20 years later, there are still psychiatrists who are saying the same thing. It is a disgrace that people are so ignorant.

I couldn't help wondering at the end of the very sad story, "where is Billy Milligan today?" Dr. David Caul has died -- may he rest in peace. What an incredibly courageous soul he was to accept the challenge of steadfastly standing by Billy against harassment which would have brought almost anyone else down.

This book is so educational that no one should miss it.

34 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Really Makes You Think, August 22, 2005

By 

Katie "book worm" (PA , USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Minds of Billy Milligan (Mass Market Paperback)

Wow! I just finished reading this book, and I am completely blown away!

"The Minds of Billy Milligan" is about a young man with multiple personality disorder, the crimes a few of his personalities committed, and the mostly horrendous treatment he endured while trying to find help for his mental disability.

One of the crimes committed was that of rape, the other was stealing. Although I must admit that the crime of rape is horrific, it seems as if neither the court, politicians, nor the media cared about the reasons it happened. All that was focused on was punishment, at the expense of trying to help this man get better, and to learn to be a functioning person is society. It is really quite sad!!!

Unfortunately, I think that if the same thing happened today, the results would be similar. We, as a society, are so worried about making sure that everyone receives their just punishment, that we don't stop to see if there is a reason for the disconnect - a reason for why people in our society do these things. Maybe if we would focus our attention on the "whys", and how to provide EFFECTIVE treatment, we would find ourselves in a much better place.

Overall, I found this book to be both sad & thought provoking. I found myself getting angry at the reporters who sought to bring him down every time he was starting to show progress, as well as toward the politicians who used him as a bargaining chip to gain more votes - quite unhonestly, I found this to be disgusting behavior as well!

I would recommend this book to anyone intersted in psychology - specifically multiple personality disorder - it is a real eye opener!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A different read about MPD, November 2, 2005

By 

Bluewater (Southern Central USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Minds of Billy Milligan (Mass Market Paperback)

As with any work of non-fiction, we should allow ourselves to believe as much or as little as we wish to what the author(s) has to reveal in the story. I found this book to be an extraordinary account of the life of a young man living with MPD and the struggles he faced both personally and in society.

Although the crimes Billy committed while under alter peronalities are unexcusable, it's both sad and appalling to know that the justice system in this country can be so cruel.

The conclusion left me wanting to know more of what Billy's life may be like today. Unlike other books about MPD where the so-called victims receive a great deal of therapy to mesh their different personalities into one, this book offers a different end to perhaps becoming whole.

For anyone interested in MPD, this is a great read to add to his/her library.