Walter Brown Books In Order

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Walter Brown is a renowned American writer and professor of psychiatry. He is popular for his wide range of work in both fields. Some of the well known written works of Brown include Kansas City Lightning, Chasing Quota, Lithium, Chasing Life and Finding Wisdom, Hootie Blues, As Chemistry, Hydroponics, As Physics, HMR Diet, Autobiography of a Pocket Handerkercheif, etc. Brown has a full-time job as a Clinical Professor Emeritus at Brown University. He is employed in the Department of Human Behavior and Psychiatry at the university. Brown likes to write only in his spare time. He likes to play with the idea of putting stories from his mind onto the paper and then working on them for days to make them presentable to an editor. Brown’s work has brought him a lot of fame and popularity over the years. He wishes to continue doing the good work the way he has been doing until his retirement and then take over the writing role on a full-time basis. He considers himself lucky to have found a place for himself in the hearts of readers across the country and abroad. Brown hopes to get the love and support of his fans for all his future projects and for that, he is dedicated to working hard.

An interesting book written by author Walter Brown in his career is entitled ‘Lithium: A Doctor, a Drug, and a Breakthrough’. It was released by the Liveright publication in 2019. This book talks in great detail about Lithium’s discovery as a drug to cure bipolar disorder. More than its advantages and benefits to modern science, this book talks about how the breakthrough discovery of the modern era remained largely unsung. Brown starts by mentioning the medical discoveries of penicillin, insulin, the double helix of DNA, and the X-Ray as being cited as the most important discoveries of the 20th century, among a few others. And yet, the discovery of the bipolar drug lithium, which happened way back in 1949, was not given its due credit for the ease it brought to the patients, doctors, and the families of the bipolar patients. The subsequent chapters of the book talk about how Walter Brown came across 2 success stories that were unlikely, while he was employed as a professor and practicing psychiatrist at Brown.

One story tells about a physician named John Cade who made the successful discovery of lithium that went on to save many lives and also brought about a pharmacological revolution. In the second story, Brown talks about a miraculous metal that was rescued from years of stigmatization. Starting from lobotomy and insulin comas to incarceration and exile, the author chronicles the difficult history of bipolar disorder’s diagnosis and often ineffective treatment through several centuries. And then came a groundbreaking research paper’s publication by John Cade in 1949. The paper, entitled ‘Lithium Salts in the Treatment of Psychotic Excitement’, described the astonishing efficacy of lithium at treating manic-depressive episodes and preventing its recurrence in patients for the first time.

This groundbreaking research work went on to transform the lives of numerous patients, practicing physicians, and pharmaceutical researchers all over the world. But, Brown has shown how it took many decades for lithium to get rid of the widespread stigma about it being a dangerous substance. He has also explained how the drug managed to overcome the pharmaceutical industry’s resistance. The pharmaceutical companies were showing resistance towards the mass production of lithium as a drug to treat bipolar disorder because they could not get enough incentive out of the promotion of a naturally occurring medicine that they could not patent.

While telling this struggle story of lithium, Brown has also given a vivid portrait of the unlikely hero of the story, John Cade. He has labeled him as a devoted naturalist who didn’t benefit from big funding sources or prestigious research training, unlike a lot of other medical researchers of modern times. In fact, John Cade had set up his laboratory in an unused pantry located inside a remote mental hospital. Brown has said in the book that such humble conditions were mainly responsible for Cade’s historic success. He had the freedom of following his restless curiosity instead of answering any external funding group. Brown has also added that Lithium has made it absolutely clear that medical research has transformed so much such serendipitous discoveries are not likely to happen again, at least not in America.

The New York Times has recently described lithium as the ‘Cinderella’ of drugs used in psychiatric treatments. It has saved billions of dollars in the healthcare department as well as countless lives. This revelatory biography of lithium and the researcher who fought for what he believed in, gives a captivating picture of the medical history of the modern age. In the words of Brown, it reveals how close humans had come to pass over the extraordinary and natural cure to a big medical problem. This book was liked by numerous readers across the globe. It attracted mostly those readers who had a history of bipolar disorder running in their family. They could connect with the problems highlighted by Brown. Most of the readers expressed their gratitude to John Cade for coming up with a solution to the troublesome disorder and providing relief to countless patients worldwide. They also appreciated the efforts of author Brown for writing this book and making sure that John Cade and Lithium got the credit they truly deserve.

Another important book penned by Brown is entitled ‘Autobiography of a pocket-handkerchief’. It was originally published in 1843 by Golden-Booke Press. This book’s original writer is James Fenimore Cooper. When Brown came across this book, he felt the need to narrate it in his own words and then publish it for the whole world to cherish it again. The unusual and rare text shows a pocket-handkerchief telling its story. This pocket handkerchief tells how it started from the flax field and went on to get created in Paris and then transported to the respectable society of Manhattan. After landing in many different hands, the handkerchief finally comes back to the original maker. This book is considered a significant work for its rich exploration of the American and French cultures and its soothing narrative voice. The delightful, quirky satire was the first proper try of James F. Cooper at writing for a magazine. Author Brown is a big fan of this popular American writer from the early 19th century. He liked his stories about life on the frontier and historical romances. Brown loved his work so much that he could not stop himself from rewriting this quirky book.