KGB Bar

Patrick Tracey is the author of “Stalking Irish Madness: Searching for the Roots of My Family’s Schizophrenia.” The youngest child and only brother to four older sisters, the Boston Irish native saw two of his sisters go suddenly mad in the 1970s. Talented beauties, Polaroid models, in their early twenties they were but the latest in a long line of family members to be hit by this biological disorder of the brain. The others include an uncle, a grandmother, and it all goes back further to his famine-starved ancestors from Ireland.

Curious about some new science – genetic links and the strong associations between famine and schizophrenia--the author sobers up and goes low rent
through old peasant Ireland in a second-hand camper van, stalking the madness that stalks his family. What he excavates is a forgotten epidemic of insanity among the Irish of the 19th century. But while the Irish were said to be “away with the fairies,” Tracey’s verdict is that the fairies were framed. Stalking Irish Madness was immediately named to the Indie Next list and was also picked by Slate magazine as one of the “best books of 2008.”

David Carr is the author of “The Night of the Gun: A Reporter Investigates the Darkest Story of His Life. His Own” published by Simon & Schuster in August of 2008. Mr. Carr writes “The Media Equation Column” for the Monday Business section of the New York Times. He also works as a general assignment reporter in the Culture section of The New York Times covering all aspects of popular culture.  During the Oscar season, Carr writes a daily blog about the awards season as the Carpetbagger, including weekly video segments. For the past 25 years, Carr has been writing about media as it intersects with business, culture and government.

In reporting and writing “The Night of the Gun,” which chronicles his long, strange trip from crack house regular to regular columnist for the New York Times, Carr made every effort to fact-check his memories against on-the-ground reporting. Building on his interest and skills in a variety of new media, Carr used video and audio recording to rigorously document his history and build a website that adds transparency and verisimilitude to the genre of memoir. “The Night of the Gun” received significant critical acclaim and was cited as a notable book of the year by The New York Times. The paperback version of the book comes out in June.