Ins and Outs of a Locked Ward - by Kevin O'Hara

Book Synopsis

One flew east, one flew west, one stayed thirty years in the cuckoo's nest. This is his story.

Kevin O'Hara worked for three decades as a psychiatric nurse at Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. There he brought to his patients the same warmth and humor that won him acclaim for his first two memoirs, the beloved Irish travel saga Last of the Donkey Pilgrims, and A Lucky Irish Lad, his precise and witty evocation of growing up as an Irish Catholic immigrant in the 1950s and 60s.

Now he tells the stories of the many colorful characters he encountered on the locked ward over all those years, and of the camaraderie of hospital workers. Though intended to be entertaining -- rollicking even - Ins and Outs of a Locked Ward has much to say about changes in the medical profession and mental health treatment over those years.

Set within the framework of a transformative week near the end of his career, O'Hara careens freely through the years to tell his story (and those of others) with characteristic energy, unbridled humor, and feeling for detail. Storytelling is the essence, both of the book and of his therapeutic practice.

Ins and Outs of a Locked Ward is a celebration of the helping professions, and an implicit exploration of what it means to be human. Darn funny too. Join Nurse Lite and his merry band for a marvelous series of adventures, some happy, some sad, but always moving.

Review Quotes

"Brimming with vivid characters and a deeply humanizing humor from the very first page, Kevin O'Hara's brilliant memoir of three decades spent among the "cider heap" of humanity-as one eloquent patient calls the psych ward-rolls along at a rollicking pace that makes it hard to put down. Ins and Outs of a Locked Ward is provocative, poignant and a genuine pleasure to read, even its grimmest moments."

- Debby Applegate, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for biography and author of Madam: The Biography of Polly Adler, Icon of the Jazz Age

"Fans of O'Hara's radiant memoirs, A Lucky Irish Lad and Last of the Donkey Pilgrims, will love this account of his tumultuous years as a psychiatric nurse. He handled his patients the same way he treats his readers: with respect, a gentle sense of mischief and a subversive willingness to break the rules in the name of kindness and humanity. When they finally put me away in a locked ward, I'm going to call him out of retirement. What fun we'll have!"

- Donald Morrison, author of The Death of French Culture, columnist at The Berkshire Eagle, podcaster at NPR's Robin Hood Radio, and former editor at Time Magazine

"In the best tradition of Ken Kesey's classic book One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, this engaging journey through a psychiatric ward captures both the challenges and the humor of the human condition."

-Donald Meichenbaum.Ph.D., Research Director of the Melissa Institute for Violence Prevention, Miami

"I know of very few writers who find the truth to the stories of our lives like Kevin O'Hara does. If this was fiction I'd rate him up there with Twain and Thurber. But these stories are true.

Red Smith once famously said, "Writing is easy . . . all you have to do is sit down and open your veins . . ." Well, O' Hara bypasses the veins and goes right to his own heart, which bleeds right into yours. This is a treat of a book."

- Matt Tannenbaum, owner, The Bookstore, Lenox, MA