Thirty Rooms to Hide In : Insanity, Addiction, and Rock ‘n' Roll in the Shadow of the Mayo Clinic

Author Luke Longstreet Sullivan has a simple way of describing his new memoir: “It’s like __The Shining__ . . . only funnier.” And as this astonishing account reveals, the comment is accurate. __Thirty Rooms to Hide__ __In__ tells the story of Sullivan’s father and his descent from being one of the world’s top orthopedic surgeons at the Mayo Clinic to a man who is increasingly abusive, alcoholic, and insane, ultimately dying alone on the floor of a Georgia motel. For his wife and six sons, the years prior to his death were years of turmoil, anger, and family dysfunction; but somehow, they were also a time of real happiness for Sullivan and his five brothers, full of dark humor and much laughter. Through the 1950s and 1960s, the six brothers had a wildly fun and thoroughly dysfunctional childhood living in a forbidding thirty-room mansion, known as the Millstone, on the outskirts of Rochester, Minnesota. The many rooms of the immense home, as well as their mother’s loving protection, allowed the Sullivan brothers to grow up as normal, mischievous boys. Against a backdrop of the times—the Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, fallout shelters, JFK’s assassination, and the Beatles—the cracks in their home life and their father’s psyche continue to widen. When their mother decides to leave the Millstone and move the family across town, the Sullivan boys are able to find solace in each other and in rock ’n’ roll. As __Thirty Rooms to Hide__ __In__ follows the story of the Sullivan family—at times grim, at others poignant—there is a wonderful, dark humor that lifts the narrative. Tragic, funny, and powerfully evocative of the 1950s and 1960s, __Thirty Rooms to Hide In__ is a tale of public success and private dysfunction, personal and familial resilience, and the strange power of humor to give refuge when it is needed most, even if it can’t always provide the answers. Author Luke Longstreet Sullivan has a simple way of describing his new memoir: “It's like The Shining... only funnier.” Thirty Rooms to Hide In tells the astonishing story of Sullivan's father and his descent from one of the world's top orthopedic surgeons at the Mayo Clinic to a man who is increasingly abusive, alcoholic, and insane, ultimately dying alone on the floor of a Georgia motel room. For his wife and six sons, the years prior to his death were characterized by turmoil, anger, and family dysfunction; but somehow they were also a time of real happiness for Sullivan and his brothers, full of dark humor and much laughter.Through the 1950s and 1960s, the six brothers had a wildly fun and thoroughly dysfunctional childhood living in a forbidding thirty-room mansion, known as the Millstone, on the outskirts of Rochester, Minnesota. The many rooms of the immense home, as well as their mother's loving protection, allowed the Sullivan brothers to grow up as normal, mischievous boys. Against a backdrop of the times—the Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, fallout shelters, JFK's assassination, and the Beatles—the cracks in their home life and their father's psyche continue to widen. When their mother decides to leave the Millstone and move the family across town, the Sullivan boys are able to find solace in each other and in rock'n'roll. As Thirty Rooms to Hide In follows the story of the Sullivan family—at times grim, at others poignant—a wonderful, dark humor lifts the narrative. Tragic, funny, and powerfully evocative of the 1950s and 1960s, Thirty Rooms to Hide In is a tale of public success and private dysfunction, personal and familial resilience, and the strange power of humor to give refuge when it is needed most, even if it can't always provide the answers. Content: Cover Contents Funeral The Millstone Skeletons in the Closet Bone Doctors Grandma Rock Sentences Everyone to Hell Little Christians, All in a Row Little Monsters in Every Room Memory: Throwing Up A Library of Her Own Forts, Death, and Bedtime Cold War Five O'clock Shadow Head X-ray: Roger in 1957 Shit Gathers in General Area of Fan Cyclops and the Fallout Shelter Memory: Dad Helps with Homework Hidden Books, Hidden Letters Eleven Twenty-Two Fun at the Foot of the Volcano Rat Helicopters Cause of Death: Unknown The Pagans "Spats with the Wife." Memory: I Am "Suave Ghost"The Alcoholic's Guide to Ruining Evenings Snowballs Somehow Made in Hell Memory: I Am "Little Brother Man" Leaving the Millstone "We've Always Lived in This Castle" Haunted House Ceiling Tiles over a Psychiatrist's Couch Memory: I Am "Quiet Man" Things That Were Scarier Than Dad Baba Yaga Memory: I Am the Fifth Beatle Hiding in the Bathroom from Bullets Hiding in the Tower Library Memory: I Am the Incredible Hulk Memory: I Am "Lonely Guy" Pagan Rites Eye of the Hurricane No Help from God Case #34233 Daydream: I Am "the Bullshit Police" Suicide. One Last Good ChristmasTiny Details in Family Pictures Daydream: I Save Dad Goodnight, Irene Whiteout/Blackout Meltdown in West Palm Beach "Do I Owe You Any Money?" The Famous Final Scene Zee Tortured Arteest Phone Calls from the Dead This Mortal Coil Room 50 The Irish Flu Sunday, July 3, 1966 Pagans in the Temple One Last Look Sunlight Streams through a High Window I Believe in God Briefly The Big Bad World Take a Sad Song and Make It Better This Very Room "And Every Winter Change to Spring" Epilogue Acknowledgments Author's Note. "[The] author ... describes his memoir with a chilling comparison, "It's like "The Shining"-- only funnier." The astonishing storey of Luke Sullivan's father and his descent from one of the world's top orthopedic surgeons at the Mayo Clinic to a man who is increasingly abusive, alcoholic and insane, ultimately dying alone on the floor of a Georgia motel room. For his wife and six sons, the years prior to his death were characterized by turmoil, anger and family dysfunction but somehow they were also a time of real happiness for Luke and his brothers, full of dark humor and much laughter ... a tale of public success and private dysfunction, personal and familial resilience, and the strange power of humor to give refuge when it is needed most, even if it can't always provide the answers"--Publisher's description Luke Longstreet Sullivan tells the astonishing story of his father's descent from a top surgeon at Mayo Clinic to a man who is increasingly abusive, alcoholic, and insane. The years prior to his death were characterized by turmoil, anger, and family dysfunction, but somehow also real happiness for Sullivan and his five brothers, full of dark humor and much laughter.