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Ten Days in a Mad-House Audiobook
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(3.91) - 22 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
In 1887, Nellie Bly had herself committed to the notorious Blackwell's Island insane asylum in New York City with the goal of discovering what life was like for its patients. While there, she experienced firsthand the shocking abuse and neglect of its inmates, from inedible food to horrifyingly unsanitary conditions.
Ten Days in a Mad-House is Bly's exposé of the asylum. Written for Joseph Pulitzer's New York World, Bly's account chronicles her ten days at Blackwell's Island and, upon its publication, drew public attention to the abuse of the institutionalized and led to a grand jury investigation of the facility. Ten Days in a Mad-House established Bly as a pioneering female journalist and remains a classic of investigative reporting. This edition also includes two of Bly's shorter articles: "Trying to Be a Servant" and "Nellie Bly as a White Slave."
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"Journalist Nellie Bly fakes insanity in order to be admitted into a mental institution to experience, first hand, the conditions there. She presents thorough details into the lives of working women and those assumed to be insane in the 1800's. Here she gives a most comprehensive view of the then conditions of such institutions, and towards the end she even appeals to authorities to make drastic improvements to such..."
— Marts (5 out of 5 stars)
Ten Days in a Mad-House Listener Reviews
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" Completely fascinating! However, they had much lower standards of madness back then. I don't believe Miss. Bly would get committed to any hospital for staring and acting mildly paranoid. A wonderful slice of history and I recommend to everyone, not just history buffs. "
— Carolyn, 2/18/2014 -
" Short read. Fantastic journalistic approach. Really disturbing revelations - not just for the time period but in general for human conditions. "
— Danielle, 2/15/2014 -
" They scrubbed her pretty hair with just soap! Shock and awe! "
— Jen, 2/14/2014 -
" Really interesting, true story of a 1800 reporter who goes undercover into an asylum. The treatment of the mentally ill, or those wrongly accused as mentally ill, is heartbreaking. Good, quick read. "
— Karen, 2/2/2014 -
" Difficult to read the old-timey jargon. Not 100% convinced of the authenticity of the whole thing.... "
— Kit, 2/1/2014 -
" Trully amazing look into a mad-house sadly even though this book is really old I fear the situation inside those institutions might remain the same. "
— Frida, 1/20/2014 -
" An incredible account of what insane asylums were like for women in the 1800s. Definitely parts that could make you sick to your stomach for what those people went through! And definitely makes you appreciate just how incredible Nellie Bly really was. "
— Allyson, 1/10/2014 -
" Non-Fiction. Takes place in the 1800's. A woman who is a journalist, goes under cover into an insane asylum to see how the women are treated. Excellent read, albeit a sad reality. The treatment is horrific, not to mention the majority of the women locked up were in fact...NOT insane. "
— Adriana, 1/3/2014 -
" Very interesting, especially if you have an interest in how women with depression are treated in America. "
— Kristin, 12/18/2013 -
" Nellie Bly didn't have much of a literary talent, the book really isn't very well written, but she had balls of steel. "
— Tom, 12/17/2013 -
" Was recommended this book, and found it to be a compeling read, although a bad format for Kindle. Its amazing to me some of the things, Nelli Bly accomplished. Good read. "
— Courtney, 11/28/2013 -
" Tough slog because of the subject matter. Chilling. "
— Cathey, 11/12/2013 -
" A quick but fascinating read. Forgive my crudity, but Nellie Bly was badass. She's my hero. "
— Rowan, 10/29/2013 -
" Simply amazing. The author was brave and insightful and did her best to make a severely dysfunctional "system" better. "
— Lisa, 10/18/2013 -
" A quick read, but intensely sad and descriptive. I'm impressed that anyone ever survived a trip there. "
— Anne_barylick, 1/27/2013 -
" Loved this book!!! Makes me so thankful that medicine, and psychiatry at that, has advanced so much since these horrible days of mistreatment and ignorance. Wow what an eye opener. "
— Janice, 10/21/2012 -
" Nellie Bly really was an amazing woman of her time. So glad I stumbled upon this book. "
— Ananda, 2/1/2012 -
" Short, easy read. Well worth it. "
— RotHead, 11/19/2011 -
" Even though this book was written decades ago, it really is interesting to see a woman journalist sneek into an insane asylum to report the horrible conditions. great, short read. "
— Stacy, 11/1/2011 -
" What a brave woman, and so ahead of her time! "
— Jamie, 10/30/2011 -
" Hoped for more, but I don't know why. It was a newspaper report, after all, not a book. By it's very nature, it can't be as in-depth as the issue might call for. Still, interesting to see a snapshot from the time period. "
— Jeanne, 8/16/2011
About Nellie Bly
Nellie Bly (1864–1922) was the pen name of American journalist Elizabeth Jane Cochrane. She remains notable for two feats: a record-breaking trip around the world in emulation of Jules Verne’s character Phileas Fogg, and an exposé in which she faked insanity to study a mental institution from within. In addition to her writing, she was also an industrialist and charity worker. She originally intended for her pseudonym to be “Nelly Bly,” but her editor wrote “Nellie” by mistake, and the error stuck.
About Laural Merlington
Laural Merlington is an audiobook narrator with over two hundred titles to her credit and a winner of multiple Earphones Awards. An Audie Award nominee, she has also directed over one hundred audiobooks. She has performed and directed for thirty years in theaters throughout the country. In addition to her extensive theater and voice-over work, she teaches college in her home state of Michigan.