Asylum cover art

Asylum

Hollywood Tales from My Great Depression: Brain Dis-Ease, Recovery, and Being My Mother's Son

Preview
Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Asylum

By: Joe Pantoliano
Narrated by: Joe Pantoliano, Nancy Sheppard Pantoliano, Natalie Nightwolf
Try Premium Plus free

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $27.99

Buy Now for $27.99

About this listen

In this deeply moving and resourceful memoir, beloved actor-director and New York Times best-selling author Joe Pantoliano takes aim at the stigma attached to what he calls “brain dis-ease” by writing candidly and humorously about his own journey through clinical depression and addiction.

Most people know Joe Pantoliano from his memorable roles in such blockbuster movies as The Matrix, Risky Business, The Fugitive, and Memento, or from his Emmy-winning performance on The Sopranos. But despite all this success, the actor, known as "Joey Pants", struggled with what he later found out was clinical depression—or brain dis-ease, as he calls it.

Asylum is the story of Joe’s quest for the Hollywood success he was sure would cure him and the painful downhill spiral into depression and addiction that followed his success. Weaving deeply personal experience together with informative discourse, this memoir creates an unflinchingly honest portrayal of the true nature of the disease, as well as Joe’s own eventual diagnosis, recovery, and ongoing efforts to educate others and remove the stigma from mental illness.

©2012 Joe Pantoliano (P)2012 Audible, Inc.
Entertainment & Celebrities Mental Health Mood Disorders Psychology Psychology & Mental Health

Critic Reviews

"A must read! Joey Pants gives us insights so valuable that one can only call his courage to share a blessing for all." (Andy Garcia)
"Joey has written a brave, fascinating book. It is astonishing what people will put themselves through for the privilege of acting. Maybe we just can’t help it." (Tommy Lee Jones)
"Pantoliano’s book reveals his ever-evolving understanding of himself and his disease through a retrospective analysis of his life's most painful and jubilant experiences. The book provides a model of inspiration and courage for those who suffer from mental illness in silence to come forward and seek the life-changing help that is currently available." (Robert Irvin, M.D., Instructor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School)
No reviews yet
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.