Part One: A Lost Childhood: At the Edge of Madness: Chapters 1 - 4 Summary

At the opening of the novel, seventeen-year-old Cory Friedman lies in the backseat of his parents car "like a pathetic, helpless lump" being driven to the state mental hospital (Page 3). When he sees the hospital name - Dressler Psychiatric Hospital - he panics. Cory is not insane but battling alcohol addiction. He doesn't want to be committed to an insane asylum. His parents tell him not to worry; he'll be safe where he's going. Cory suffers from a variety of medical conditions, including obsessive-compulsive disorder, Tourette's Syndrome, and an anxiety disorder. As soon as he walks into the hospital waiting room, he begins ticcing - raising his middle finger into the air, shooting his tongue out of his mouth, vocalizing a...