The Kevin Show is a biography of Kevin Hall, an Olympic sailor who suffers from mental illness, specifically a form of bipolar disorder known as The Truman Show syndrome. During manic episodes, Kevin imagines that he is the star of a worldwide reality show that is helping to solve global poverty.
Kevin was a successful junior sailor, and he eventually made the US Olympic team sailing Finns and served on the America's Cup crew for Team Artemis. He started having manic episodes during college, and also had testicular cancer (twice) around the same time.
The Kevin Show gives a well rounded picture of the difficulties of living with mental illness, both for the sufferer and his family and friends. It discusses societal and philosophical questions about what it means to treat mental issues as an illness while still holding individuals responsible for their own behavior. However, the prose is pedestrian and I often had trouble keeping track of Kevin's many moves. It felt to me like Pilon had arranged her copious notes into their proper order but hadn't gone back through to provide shading, drama, and smooth transitions.
Kevin was a successful junior sailor, and he eventually made the US Olympic team sailing Finns and served on the America's Cup crew for Team Artemis. He started having manic episodes during college, and also had testicular cancer (twice) around the same time.
The Kevin Show gives a well rounded picture of the difficulties of living with mental illness, both for the sufferer and his family and friends. It discusses societal and philosophical questions about what it means to treat mental issues as an illness while still holding individuals responsible for their own behavior. However, the prose is pedestrian and I often had trouble keeping track of Kevin's many moves. It felt to me like Pilon had arranged her copious notes into their proper order but hadn't gone back through to provide shading, drama, and smooth transitions.
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