Kurt Morris is a friend, co-contributor to Razorcake, and a person who I respect quite a bit. This is his second self-published book in the midst of a pandemic, and that deserves hella props. His first one covered Black Flag’s My War track by track, interwoven with Kurt’s personal mental health stories. For this second book, he focuses on his bi-polar II diagnosis, as well as two stints in mental heath institutions.
Taking care of our brains is something that’s become much more normalized even in just the past five years. In this book we meet Kurt as early as 1996 at age sixteen, already asking for reasons not to kill himself. We carry on with him through medication trials which never quite do the job. He includes journal entries from those times as well, which is helpful in painting an authentic picture of one’s self from over a decade ago. He checks himself into a mental hospital for a week in 2011 and has an intense relationship with his girlfriend at the time, who seems to be the only one firmly in his corner during this experience. Up until this point and even a bit further in Enough., I felt like the writing was emotionally distant.
It wasn’t until his second stay at a different institution did I feel like Kurt’s tone was emotionally accessible. During this time he comes across a patient who had a failed hanging attempt. The evidence was visible. This is the point of the book at which I became engaged. I think it turned a corner in a major way that hit my heart. There’s heavy trauma in this true story that is difficult to read, especially when it’s coming from a person with whom I have spent years reading and getting to know. At times it’s uncomfortably intimate, and honestly I think it could have benefitted for more of that intense closeness. Writing this book is trauma in and of itself, and I am grateful that Kurt has come out better as a result of these experiences. I hope this is a book that helps others in similar situations find help. –Kayla Greet ([email protected], kurtmorris.net/enough, $10 U.S.)