American Snake Pit - by Dan Tomasulo (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

In 1987, following a public outcry about its questionable medical practices, Staten Island's Willowbrook State School for people with intellectual disabilities closed its doors for good.

Flat broke and almost finished with graduate school, Dan Tomasulo -- now a core faculty member at Columbia University's Spirituality Mind Body Institute -- was hired to relocate Willowbrook's most severely disabled inhabitants into a groundbreaking community-based group home.

American Snake Pit is the story of the disregarded souls who ended up in Tomasulo's care; of the eccentric, resilient staff who helped make such a momentous success possible; and, most of all, of one man's persistent struggle to give voices to those who could not advocate for themselves.

Review Quotes

"Equally harrowing and transcendent in its telling, Tomasulo's revealing tale balances on the boundary of what it is to be human, and to endure with dignity and compassion."

-- Barnet Bain, Core Faculty, Spirituality Mind Body Institute, Teachers College, Columbia University; author of The Book of Doing and Being; and producer, What Dreams May Come

"Tomasulo's memoir gives a voice to those who otherwise wouldn't have one. It reaches into the very heart of what is possible when people are given support, compassion, and an opportunity to thrive."

-- Scott Barry Kaufman, author of Ungifted and Wired to Create (with Carolyn Gregoire)

"Dan Tomasulo's tale of hope and grit explores a dark blemish in American history, re-framing the narrative--both of his own life and that of his patients--through hard work and compassion, and irrevocably altering the civil rights discourse about how we care for the most severely intellectually disabled in this country. If you want people to change for the better, you have to change their situation. American Snake Pit shows with courage and compassion how this can be done. From my viewpoint, this is the formula for hope."

-- Philip Zimbardo, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Stanford University, and author of The Lucifer Effect

"A gripping account, historical and psychological, that will leave you horrified and inspired, angry and yet hopeful. Read this book, and let it be a window to the outside world and a mirror to your world within."

-- Tal Ben-Shahar, Ph.D., Harvard University lecturer and New York Times bestselling author of Even Happier, Happier, and Being Happy

"A chilling memoir about the monumental challenges facing the intellectually disabled. But it's also a beautifully written, empathetic case for hope, resilience, and the transformative power of community."

-- Adam Grant, Ph. D., New York Times bestselling author of Give and Take, Originals, and Option B (with Sheryl Sandberg)