Ten Days in a Mad House

I just finished reading "Ten Days in a Mad House" by Nelly Bly. It's extremely short -- only 86 pages -- but interesting and motivating just the same.

Bly's undercover investigative 10 days inside Blackwell Island's insane asylum forever changed the way patients are cared for in psychiatric wards. She exposed the unfair, unhealthy and undesirable conditions that the patients were subjected to.

A book worth reading for anyone interested in journalism or history. For me, pursuing a degree in journalism and a minor in history, it was perfect.

While reading about Bly's initial scheme to convince a court she was insane, I read a passage that I found quite enjoyable:

" 'I wish the reporters were here,' [Judge Duffy] said at last. 'They would be able to find out something about her.'

I got very much frightened at this, for if there is anyone who can ferret out a mystery it is a reporter. I felt that I would rather face a mass of expert doctors, policemen and detectives than two bright specimens of my own craft."

Now, having finished the book, I wish I had a story to investigate rather than homework to do. Doesn't this seem to always be the case?

-- Taylor