His name was Joshua Silver. He was 23 years old, educated, and had an impressive vocabulary. The NYPD had found Joshua Silver naked in Times Square, barking like a dog.It was just another night for Julie Holland, the attending doctor in the world famous Bellevue Hospital's psychiatric emergency room. Every weekend for nine years, it was Holland's job to evaluate and treat all patients admitted, from the schizophrenic to the bipolar to the traumatized, from the homicidal to the suicidal to victims of unthinkable crimes.
In this absorbing memoir, Holland provides a rare behind-the scenes glimpse into her life-altering experience at Bellevue, recounting stories of the patients who moved, terrified, fascinated, and amused her, the patients who helped her grow in ways she never imagined. Along the way, she documents her life outside the hospital - her relationship with her husband and the births of their children, her own therapy sessions, which helped her finally crack through the tough exterior she had formed, and her close bond with her best friend and mentor, Lucy, a fellow doctor whose battle with cancer left Holland forever changed.