Manalapan native tells
tales of mental illness
‘Short of a Picnic’ gives
voice to people who
are not always heard
By linda denicola
Staff Writer
Eric Shapiro
Manalapan native Eric Shapiro is only 24 years old, yet he has overcome and accomplished so much. He has just had his first book of short stories published and has learned to use his knowledge of mental illness due to the obsessive-compulsive disorder that has plagued him for a decade in the service of himself and others.
Shapiro’s book, Short of a Picnic, chronicles mental illnesses in an offbeat and youthful style. With a flair for realistic dialogue, his first-person and third-person stories depict everyday moments in the lives of men and women with illnesses like schizophrenia, paraphilias, addiction, Alzheimer’s disease, manic depression, Tourette’s syndrome and anorexia. There is also a story about obsessive-compulsive disorder and another about depression, two illnesses that Shapiro has experienced firsthand.
The last story in the collection, "grandpa addresses the boy," is based on Shapiro’s relationship with his grandfather who suffered from depression.
The story "he brushed his teeth" is about a man’s compulsion to brush and floss his teeth and how it is tied to frustrated sexuality. The story has a brutal realism to it as does another story about a manic-depressive in the throws of mania, and how his rather frenetic day seems to him. One sentence at the beginning of the story sets the mood: "I shot out of the front door and the grass looked and smelled like a mystical plane."
The last line of the story "my safe room" also says it all since a person in the throws of mania doesn’t sleep much: "I hope to get some rest before checkout time."
Shapiro currently lives in Los Angeles, where he works as an author, screenwriter and consultant. He attended Manalapan High School and the Freehold Regional High School District Fine and Performing Arts Center for Video at Howell High School in his junior and senior years.
Shapiro is a graduate of Emerson College, Boston, with an emphasis in writing, literature and publishing. He is a recipient of a national award from the International Radio and Television Society for his dramatic narrative Male Revenge Fantasy.
Shapiro said his biggest influence was and is his mother, Nita, who is an artist.
"My mother is a painter. She is very encouraging and very inspiring," the author said.
He believes that mental illnesses are commonly misdiagnosed and gravely misunderstood in American society, so his short stories are meant to sadden, amuse, enlighten and startle readers, some of whom he hopes will be mental health professionals, their patients, and especially families and friends of those afflicted with these disorders.
Shapiro doesn’t take a clinical approach. His narratives feature quirky, flawed characters in real-life situations that reveal what it’s like to be different in a society that embraces mainstream thoughts and emotions.
One of the stories, told in the form of a letter from a student who had been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder (ADD) is to his adviser, a man he had trusted, who ultimately disappointed him.
The adviser had made a condescending remark after the graduation that ticked off the young graduate, so he wrote the letter. The educator said to him, "We made it."
Brian, the student, admonishes him. "I made it," he says. "And I worked damn hard, excuse my language."
He then goes on to chronicle what led up to the diagnosis and how it made him feel. He also questions educational methods in general, like the number of students per teacher, the early start of the school day, the one-size-fits-all structure of the average school day and the ways that school administrators deal with children that don’t fit into the mold.
At the close of his letter, Brian says, "The credit is all mine. I have the diploma and I have the clarity and I have your number."
It would seem that the same could be said of the author. He knows his characters and has the clarity to make them real on paper.
Short of a Picnic, published by Be Mused Publications in Ravensdale, Wash., is available through the Barnes & Noble Web site at www.barnesandnoble.com and at www.amazon.com. The retail price for the 112-page book is $10.95.