Reviewed by Viga Boland for Readers' Favorite

American Snake Pit by Dan is an amazing read and anything but what you expect from a psychology expert. You might expect some heavy reading because of the subject matter…helping developmentally and intellectually disabled persons to live productively in a community. But what you will get is a most informative, delightful read that will keep you turning pages, not just because of the interesting subject matter, but because Dr. Dan Tomasulo is often funnier than Howie Mandell with his quick comebacks, reflections and asides. There are times I laughed out loud. What wit! That’s not to say that the subject matter of American Snake Pit is a laughing matter. There’s nothing funny about seeing those society has given up on being crammed into the infamous Willowbrook Institution, which Bobby Kennedy called “the snake pit” in 1965. It took someone like Geraldo Rivera, a TV news reporter and his camera men slipping into Willowbrook to get footage of the deplorable conditions in which the “incurables” were living to bring about legislation to give these inmates a second chance at life by setting up communal homes in various towns.

When we meet Dr. Dan, he is still working on his doctorate degree, and has just been hired as the program director at Walden House, one of these new homes. His first encounter with one of Walden House’s residents, Sophie, has him ducking for cover as she hurls furniture at him, shoves her arm through a Plexiglas window and rages at the world. Taimi, Dr. Dan’s assistant, comes to his rescue and on her entry, Sophie immediately calms down and smiles. Seems Dr. Dan has a lot to learn from Taimi, and learn he does.

In American Snake Pit, we meet Albert who eats anything….light bulbs, wood, even the buttons on Dr. Dan’s jacket…and then gives him back his jacket with a foul-smelling present wrapped in it. Use your imagination here. There’s also Jake, who like the autistic savant in Rainman, can memorize a phone book and provide lists of dates, figures, numbers. Or how about Lillith? Lillith can’t stop eating! She gorges on food, cramming an entire fridge full of food into her mouth in one sitting in between propositioning Dr. Dan for a quickie. And when Dr. Dan hires a secretary to help keep books and records in order, he gets more than he expected from the mini-skirted, bangle-jingling, super sexy Gwennie with a heart of gold and a mind so sharp she can outsmart the fire chief when it comes to electrical safety and regulations.

The cast of characters in American Snake Pit is small but so colourful. And what a joy it is to see how, bit by bit, with help from Taimi, Gwennie and an ex-con cook, Harold, this unlikely group of “misfits” comes together as a community in Walden House. To everyone’s surprise, the tenants of Walden House earn the respect of the townspeople who were hell-bent on getting rid of them all, and Dr. Dan learns more about how to cure the “incurables” than any textbook or doctorate courses could teach him. It’s been said a good book should both entertain and enlighten. American Snake Pit does both. With his easy going writing style, Dr. Dan has presented a charming true story that warms the heart and gives hope where most would think there is none. Read it and enjoy!