My Lobotomy: A Memoir

Howard Dully · Charles Fleming

Sep 2007 · Sold by Crown

About this ebook

In this heartfelt memoir from one of the youngest recipients of the transorbital lobotamy, Howard Dully shares the story of a painfully dysfunctional childhood, a misspent youth, his struggle to claim the life that was taken from him, and his redemption.

At twelve, Howard Dully was guilty of the same crimes as other boys his age: he was moody and messy, rambunctious with his brothers, contrary just to prove a point, and perpetually at odds with his parents. Yet somehow, this normal boy became one of the youngest people on whom Dr. Walter Freeman performed his barbaric transorbital—or ice pick—lobotomy.

Abandoned by his family within a year of the surgery, Howard spent his teen years in mental institutions, his twenties in jail, and his thirties in a bottle. It wasn’t until he was in his forties that Howard began to pull his life together. But even as he began to live the “normal” life he had been denied, Howard struggled with one question: Why?

There were only three people who would know the truth: Freeman, the man who performed the procedure; Lou, his cold and demanding stepmother who brought Howard to the doctor’s attention; and his father, Rodney. Of the three, only Rodney, the man who hadn’t intervened on his son’s behalf, was still living. Time was running out. Stable and happy for the first time in decades, Howard began to search for answers.

Through his research, Howard met other lobotomy patients and their families, talked with one of Freeman’s sons about his father’s controversial life’s work, and confronted Rodney about his complicity. And, in the archive where the doctor’s files are stored, he finally came face to face with the truth.

Revealing what happened to a child no one—not his father, not the medical community, not the state—was willing to protect, My Lobotomy exposes a shameful chapter in the history of the treatment of mental illness. Yet, ultimately, this is a powerful and moving chronicle of the life of one man.

Ratings and reviews

Story of the experiences of a man who had been given a lobotomy at age 12. Emotional, moving, infuriating, difficult to put down. I cried, I got angry . It made me wonder about a family member who had been admitted to Agnew and had electroshock treatments.I was never told there was a lobotomy done. The time frame, the preadmission symptoms. The post-release symptoms -it all sounds like what Mr. Dully described .

I only read the two chapters offered but it was so good that I couldn't stop reading it.Poor boy, I agree that so far I find child abuse as well as him never understanding his Mother's sudden death due to negligence on the doctor's part!😥😪😫

A very interesting read. This was an horrific tragedy that was inflicted on a young boy who was desperately abandoned by ALL. Every single person failed him until he met Barbara who showed him that he was worthy of live. How badly this speaks of the people who were supposed to take care of a boy who just wanted and needed to be loved and taken care of. Worth reading.

About the author

HOWARD DULLY is a tour bus driver who lives happily with his wife in San Jose, California. This is his first book.

CHARLES FLEMING is a former Newsweek correspondent and Vanity Fair contributor and the coauthor of a number of bestselling nonfiction books. He lives in Los Angeles.