The Best Minds

‘Extraordinary… A remarkable meditation on friendship, success, madness and violence that refuses to oversimplify … A magisterial work, as much a sociological study of late 20th-century America as it is a book about madness. Despite weighing in at more than 500 pages, the narrative scarcely drags thanks to Rosen’s style, which is easygoing, but spiced with moments of pin-sharp brilliance.’ – David Shariatmadari * Guardian (Book of the Day) *Rosen is a novelist, and his literary imagination shapes the book like a novel… This artful, reflective and even entertaining book - one of the best of this or any year - is his powerful effort to take responsibility for changing minds, to persuade us of the danger of allowing compassion to obscure truth. The Best Minds manages to honour both – Elaine Showalter * TLS *The darkest of literary triumphs, and the most gripping of unbearable reads. Five stars – Simon Ings * Telegraph *An act of tremendous compassion and a literary triumph… A brave and nuanced book * New York Times *Extraordinary… It’s just so superbly written. I highly recommend it – Nihal Arthanayake * Radio 5 Live *Almost every page is filled with poignant observations, subtle ironies and a commentary pregnant with the unbearable weight of future knowledge… This is a rich and deeply thoughtful book about the nature of madness and the way that western society deals with it – Andrew Anthony * Observer *Far and away the best book I’ve read this year – Bari WeissAn astounding piece of work, at once a portrait of Laudor made of countless fine brush strokes, a tender memoir of adolescence and young adulthood and, above all, a forensic, unflinching exploration of the factors that led to Laudor’s public rise and bloody fall – Ben Machell * The Times *A poignant account of friendship… The writing is smart and zippy, laying all the emotions bare… an engrossing, passionate and balanced book - both a plea for the humane management of a most misunderstood disease and a haunting account of a friendship that ended in tragedy – Leyla Sanai * Spectator *A beautifully written meditation on society’s inability to cope with the problem of mental illness – Gal Beckerman * Atlantic *

Jonathan Rosen is the author of two novels- Eve’s Apple and Joy Comes in the Morning, and two non-fiction books- The Talmud and the Internet and The Life of the Skies. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Atlantic and numerous anthologies. He lives with his family in New York City.