The Chair and the Valley: A Memoir of Trauma, Healing, and the Outdoors (Unabridged)
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5.0 • 4 Ratings
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
"Bracing, brilliant, and fury-inducing.... a survival story like no other. With positively outstanding storytelling, this is a book that cannot be put down." —Booklist, starred review
AN OPEN FIELD PUBLICATION FROM MARIA SHRIVER
One of Booklist’s Best Memoirs of 2024
One of Booklist Editors' Choice Adult Books for Young Adults, 2024
Banning Lyon was an average 15-year-old, living in Dallas, TX. He enjoyed skateboarding, listening to punk rock, and even had a part-time job. But in January 1987 his life quickly changed after a school guidance counselor falsely believed he was suicidal after giving away his skateboard. Days later he was admitted to a psychiatric hospital, and what he was told would be a two-week stay turned into 353 days that would change his life forever.
Banning takes readers through his fraught relationship with his family, the mistreatment he suffered at the hospital, the lawsuit against the owners of the facility, and his desire to make sense of what happened to him. We witness Banning navigate the difficult landscape of trauma and his daily battle to live a normal life. After years of highs and lows that include being adopted by his attorney and mentor, falling in love and grieving the death of his fiancée, and being sued by the same doctors who mistreated him, Banning decides to take control of his life and finds hope in the backcountry of Yosemite National Park, where he discovers new purpose in being a backpacking guide. Through friendship, nature, and eventually giving therapy another chance, Banning summons the courage to keep moving forward.
The Chair and The Valley is a raw, gut-wrenching, and amazing story about healing from trauma and starting over. It is a exploration of the importance of chosen family, the restorative power of nature, and the strength it takes to build a new life in the face of fear and doubt.
Customer Reviews
The Chair and The Valley
I have listened to around 400 audiobooks, and 1/3 to 1/2 of those are memoirs. Banning’s writing of his memoir and its narration are on my “Top 10” memoir list. The events he writes about are real and relevant in the world we live in today. I applaud his bravery and decision to tell his story.
Trauma can be experienced in an infinite number of ways. However, the symptoms and behaviors that manifest as a result of those experiences can be similar. Banning’s memoir is an inspiring example of what it’s like to live with complex PTSD and the ongoing healing process of one’s mental health. Thank you for sharing your story and helping others to heal.
Raw, vulnerable and inspiring
Honest writing that captures a small glimpses of what growing up in the 80’s was like, but I was shocked about what happened to him and other youth victims in what seems to be one of the largest health-care fraud cases in American history. Revealing not just his own troubles with the resulting PTSD but introducing us to others scarred by these events. Banning is so open about learning to deal with these feelings and fears that seem in many ways similar to what we all may face in our own way. I left the book with deep lessons that I think will help me process troubles in my own life. Highly recommend!
Truthful and Inspiring
I have had the pleasure of getting to read this inspiring memoir before it was published and it is a book that I wont forget.
I’ve also listened to the audiobook and enjoyed it even more.
It would be wrong to assume that this memoir is one of self pity, it is anything but.
Banning survived his stay in the mental institution and in the end, thrived.
Not without enduring trauma, as a younger person I can’t even imagine being put in this situation, but still finding the resilience to carry on .
It’s a story of trauma and tragedy, and ultimately renewal.
A beautifully crafted memoir. I told Banning that I really, really hoped that this was not the last thing he writes.
I am a voracious reader and I feel we are seeing the blossoming of a very talented writer.