W. J. T. Mitchell teaches English and art history at the University of Chicago. His books include Image Science, Cloning Terror, and What Do Pictures Want?, all also published by the University of Chicago Press.

• Preface1          “I Need to Become Homeless”2          A MAD Tour3          The Therapeutic Landscape4          “There’s Something in My Head”5          From Desolation to Da Jewels6          Flying and Falling7          Diagnoses and Detours8          “He Killed the Future”9          He Was Too Strong for His Own Good10        Gabe’s Back Pages11        Philmworx12        The Immoral Career of the Caregiver13        On the Case of Gabriel MitchellPostscript        Poems by Janice Misurell-MitchellGabriel’s Email to the Family, on Grammy’s DeathAcknowledgmentsFurther Reading and Viewing

"Mitchell's Mental Traveler combines a scholar's intellect with a father's intimate perspective on the life, work, and suicide of his son, Gabriel Mitchell. A kaleidoscopic and erudite memoir of madness and sanity, this is also, at its core, a stunning account of what endures in the wake of catastrophic tragedies: love, art, and vast stores of human hope."--Rachel DeWoskin, author of Banshee and Someday We Will Fly "A father's account, a humane case study of a person with schizophrenia, and above all a beautiful elegy for a bright and creative and troubled life lost, Mental Traveler is renowned scholar W.J.T. Mitchell's lucid memoir of his son Gabe's illness from early-onset in college to crisis, recovery, treatment, and finding a way in the world before his untimely death. Through a deep and clear-eyed process of attention and reminiscence, this book does a lot to dispel the stereotyping and scapegoating of people and families suffering from and with schizophrenia."--Greg Bottoms, author of Angelhead: My Brother's Descent into Madness