Ten Days In A Mad House

"She went undercover to expose an insane asylum's horrors. Now Nellie Bly is getting her due." ― Diane Bernard, The Washington Post "It is only after one is in trouble that one realizes how little sympathy and kindness there are in the world." Ten Days in a Mad-House is a book by American journalist Nellie Bly. It was initially published as a series of articles for the New York World; Bly later compiled the articles into a book, being published by Ian L. Munro in New York City in 1887. The book was based on articles written while Bly was on an undercover assignment for the New York World, feigning insanity at a women's boarding house, so as to be involuntarily committed to an insane asylum. She then investigated the reports of brutality and neglect at the Women's Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell's Island. The book received acclaim from critics at the time. Accumulation of her reportage and the release of her content brought her fame and led to a grand jury investigation and financial increase in the Department of Public Charities and Corrections. A True Classic that Belongs on Every Bookshelf!

Beautifully adapted and rendered through piercing illustrations by acclaimed creators Brad Ricca and Courtney Sieh, Nellie Bly’s complete, true-to-life 19th-century investigation of Blackwell Asylum captures a groundbreaking moment in history and reveals a haunting and timely glimpse at the starting point for conversations on mental health. “I said I could and I would. And I did.” While working for Joseph Pulitzer’s newspaper in 1887, Nellie Bly began an undercover investigation into the local Women’s Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell Island. Intent on seeing what life was like on the inside, Bly fooled trained physicians into thinking she was insane—a task too easily achieved—and had herself committed. In her ten days at the asylum, Bly witnessed horrifying conditions: the food was inedible, the women were forced into labor for the staff, the nurses and doctors were cruel or indifferent, and many of the women held there had no mental disorder of any kind. Now adapted into graphic novel form by Brad​ Ricca and vividly rendered with beautiful and haunting illustrations by Courtney Sieh, Bly’s bold venture is given new life and meaning. Her fearless investigation into the living conditions at the Blackwell Asylum forever changed the field of journalism. A timely reminder to take notice of forgotten populations, Ten Days in a Mad-House warns us what happens when we look away.

“She was part of the ‘stunt girl’ movement that was very important in the 1880s and 1890s as these big, mass-circulation yellow journalism papers came into the fore.” –Brooke Kroeger Around the World in Seventy-Two Days (1890) is a travel narrative by American investigative journalist Nellie Bly. Proposed as a recreation of the journey undertaken by Phileas Fogg in Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days (1873), Bly’s journey was covered in Joseph Pulitzer’s popular newspaper the New York World, inspiring countless others to attempt to surpass her record. At the time, readers at home were encouraged to estimate the hour and day of Bly’s arrival, and a popular board game was released in commemoration of her undertaking. Embarking from Hoboken, noted investigative journalist Nellie Bly began a voyage that would take her around the globe. Bringing only a change of clothes, money, and a small travel bag, Bly travelled by steamship and train through England, France—where she met Jules Verne—Italy, the Suez Canal, Ceylon, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan. Sending progress reports via telegraph, she made small reports back home while recording her experiences for publication upon her return. Despite several setbacks due to travel delays in Asia, Bly managed to beat her estimated arrival time by several days despite making unplanned detours, such as visiting a Chinese leper colony, along the way. Unbeknownst to Bly, her trip had inspired Cosmopolitan’s Elizabeth Brisland to make a similar circumnavigation beginning on the exact day, launching a series of copycat adventures by ambitious voyagers over the next few decades. Despite being surrounded by this air of popularity and competition, however, Bly took care to make her journey worthwhile, showcasing her skill as a reporter and true pioneer of investigative journalism. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Nellie Bly’s Around the World in Seventy-Two Days is a classic work of American travel literature reimagined for modern readers.

"PLUCKY NELLIE BLY!" “No young writer has ever leaped into such sudden fame in New York as Miss Nellie Bly, who did that lunatic asylum exposure for the New York World. She is a bright, handsome young lady, less than twenty years old, who came to the metropolis from Pittsburg a few months ago, and pluckily undertook to make her living by newspaper work in the great city. She deceived the expert physicians who examined her, and pronouncing her insane they consigned her to one of the insane wards of Blackwell’s Island, where she dwelt among horrors for ten days, noting down in her quick brain all that she saw and heard. The old song says: “Nellie Bly, shuts her eye When she goes to sleep,” but she seems never to have closed a peeper during the whole of that trying ordeal. Her narrative of the horrors of the place—the indifference of doctors, the neglect and cruelty of the nurses and the tortures inflicted upon the unfortunates, is told in a plain, straightforward manner and attests at once to her humanity and truth.” - November, 1887 This volume collects for the first time ever all the reporting surrounding Nellie Bly’s blockbuster undercover story that launched her to fame, including all three versions from her own pen: - Bly's initial account across three articles for the New York World - Bly's bestselling book Ten Days In A Mad-House - Bly's long-form 1889 article Among The Mad for Godey's Lady's Book Also included are over two dozen contemporary articles relating to Bly's madhouse stay, including the attempt by the New York Sun to scoop Bly on her own story! With a foreword by David Blixt, author of What Girls Are Good For: A Novel Of Nellie Bly, The Master Of Verona, and Her Majesty's Will.

Documents the 1889 competition between feminist journalist Nellie Bly and Cosmopolitan reporter Elizabeth Bishop to beat Jules Verne's record and each other in a round-the-globe race, offering insight into their respective daunting challenges as recorded in their reports sent back home. 50,000 first printing.

This pocketbook edition of the screenplay, "10 DAYS IN A MADHOUSE - The Nellie Bly Story" written by Timothy Hines ("War of the Worlds the True Story", "Sean Young: Honesty", "Earth Angel"), was made into a 2015 American biographical feature film directed by Hines. This screenplay edition features an alternate opening based in Nellie Bly's childhood, filmed but cut from the movie before its release. The movie encapsulates the life of the first-ever female Journalist, Nellie Bly, world-known for her notorious and brave commitment to work with Blackwell's Island Insane Asylum.10 Days in a Madhouse - The Nellie Bly Story stars Caroline Barry, Christopher Lambert and Julia Chantrey with Kelly Le Brock, about real life reporter, 23 year old Nellie Bly who, working for Joseph Pulitzer, infiltrated the notorious Blackwell's Island Insane Asylum by feigning insanity to report on abuses from within. The movie had its US festival premiere to a sold out audience at Geena Davis' Bentonville Film Festival celebrating women and diversity in film and had its European premiere at the 68th Cannes Film Festival in France. 10 Days in a Madhouse opened in the U.S. with a red carpet theatrical premiere at the AMC Empire 25 in Times Square then went on to play at AMC Theaters across the US. The picture had an Oscar® qualifying run in North Hollywood, California at the Laemmle NoHo 7.MS. Magazine labeled the picture a "Must See." Timothy Hines' 10 Days in a Madhouse competed in the 89th Academy Awards.Universal Home entertainment and Broad Green picked the movie up distributing on DVD to WalMart, BestBuy, Target, Barnes and Nobles, etc. 10 Days in a Madhouse premiered on cable on DirecTV and Time Warner Comcast Cable, The picture is on all VOD platforms including iTunes, Google Play, Amazon, Amazon Prime and Vudu. 10 Days in a Madhouse is being distributed worldwide, dubbed in many languages such as German and Turkish.Filmed in Salem, Oregon, where One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest was filmed, as well as Culver City, 10 Days in a Madhouse was selected for the Los Angeles Women's International Film Festival in 2017 and recently played at the Regal Live Stadium Theaters in Los Angeles.The movies director, Timothy Hines observes, at the success of the picture, "I think the movie's continuing success is in part due to the fact that Nellie Bly's story is so fascinating. She had three dollars to her name when she was hired by Joseph Pulitzer to go undercover in Blackwell's. 10 Days in a Madhouse is a testament to the words, as Nellie Bly always said and lived, "Energy rightly applied and directed will accomplish anything."

From the author of The New York Times bestseller Self- Made Man, a captivating expose of depression and mental illness in America Revelatory, deeply personal, and utterly relevant, Voluntary Madness is a controversial work that unveils the state of mental healthcare in the United States from the inside out. At the conclusion of her celebrated first book--Self-Made Man, in which she soent eighteen months disguised as a man-Norah Vincent found herself emotionally drained and severely depressed. Determined but uncertain about maintaining her own equilibrium, she boldly committed herself to three different facilities-a big-city hospital, a private clinic in the Midwest, and finally an upscale retreat in the South. Voluntary Madness is the chronicle of Vincent's journey through the world of the mentally ill as she struggles to find her own health and happiness.