This book was surprising, particularly in the way that the author reveals, over and over again, her many failings and mistakes. She is remarkably human, always questioning her own motives and actions even as she tries to right by the people in her life (and does)--her husband, her stepdaughter, and above all her mentally ill friend Mot, who frankly comes off as much more likable than the author at times. This is really a brave and honest book.

Sarah is forty, and she’s floundering. Her life’s work, like her mother’s, has been to try to make the world a better place, and so she works at a homeless shelter as its director. But things are falling apart there; whereas once upon a time most of the mentally ill homeless were passive, now meth and other addictions have created so much anger and violence that she isn’t even safe there. She’s been physically attacked three times, one of which was sexual, and her life has been threatened on an ongoing basis. Too often she is the only staff member present, and it’s getting scary out there.

Many thanks go to Net Galley and University of Georgia Press for the DRC. This title will be for sale September 15.

In addition, her marriage, which was predicated upon a mutual dedication to social justice issues and the understanding that neither she nor her new husband would be around much because of the time and attention their work demanded, is coming undone as well. Her husband Scotti has at times sided with the population she is supposed to be managing at the shelter against her.

Think of it!

So maybe it isn’t so very strange that she has decided to load herself into her vehicle and drive 1400 miles to Texas to visit a homeless friend who has moved there. “Mot”, who used to be “Thomas”, is living in a beat-up car in a Walmart parking lot. And whereas most of us would regard her mission as either an immense personal sacrifice or even a little bit bizarre, the fact is that she needed to get away from West Virginia, that shelter (where she has given notice and is using up every possible minute of vacation time), and Scotti. She has rented a little cabin—the closest thing Mot will accept even temporarily in terms of living indoors—with two beds, one for herself, and one for him. And as the book opens, she is reflecting that even if he never shows up, a whole week in this primitive little yurt, all by herself, sounds positively wonderful.

Right away her spouse is ringing her cell to complain of how much inconvenience he is experiencing while she is gone. He sends unhappy e-mails constantly, but he also doesn’t want her to use her smart phone because that data costs money. So although she hasn’t explained to us yet about the state of her marriage, which should still be in its honeymoon phase but really, really isn’t, we start to get the picture.

Mot is a complicated fellow. Immediately, when she quotes him, I start asking myself whether this is schizophrenia, a dissociative disorder, both or neither? I’m not a professional by a long shot, but when a guy routinely refers to the other folks with whom he is sharing a body and that control his behavior, it’s pretty clear all is not well. And my jaw dropped on the floor later in the book when he commented, in a moment of total lucidity, that it was probably the latter.

Mot is a veteran, and Sarah’s documentation of the unconscionable way the USA treats its veterans is noteworthy. Advocates for veterans’ health care should be plugging this book all the time, everywhere.

Sarah’s time with Mot mixes with some odd bits of philosophy, most of them his, and so although plot wise there aren’t a lot of parallels, the overall flavor to this book is similar to that of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. (I have never compared any other book to that book before, and don’t expect to!)

I should also add that I came to this galley after having read a couple of Pulitzer winners and some books by my favorite bestselling authors. I dove into Mot not because I thought it would be my favorite of the remaining DRC’s I had to review, but because I had snagged it right before it was due to be archived, and I felt an obligation to the author and the publisher. In other words, although it looked interesting, I didn’t expect to give it five stars. But the sum of the book is so much more than its parts, and to get it, you really just have to read it.

Highly recommended to anyone and everyone.

This is a very thought provoking memoir. I would like to thank NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this book for my honest review.

Sarah is a 40 yr. old woman, who is trying to make the world a better place. She is the director of a drop in homeless shelter that was geared for the mentally ill and homeless everything was going just fine until the street drugs started getting smuggled in and the clientele were a lot more violent and the drug dealers were hanging around the place to causing all kinds of havoc. The staff had the area's non-emergency police number on speed dial it was getting so bad. They were losing a lot of their staff members because of the situation, which left them very short staffed and Sarah was there alone at night a lot of the time. She had been assaulted a few times and the last time was sexual in nature. Her life was getting threatened on a daily basis and she was just a wreck she hated even getting up in the morning. It was too much for her bare and she decided enough was enough. So she was going to use up her vacation time to find something else then resign.

Her new husband was not supportive of her at all. He was really quite selfish towards Sarah. He seemed to feel quite superior over her which he really wasn't. He had no empathy towards the situation she was dealing with a work. He had the gall to let her know that she just wasn't strong enough to handle the job and the responsibilities of being the director.

He was gone most of the time taking care of a very disturbed female that demanded most of his time. That alone was ripping their marriage apart, whenever the phone rang Sarah cringed because if she answered she was going to get cussed out or the female was going into a psychotic rant. He also was no help around the house and on top of the hard job she had during the day and night. When she got home she had to listen to him complain about her failures regarding keeping the house.

One day she received an email from her old friend, Mot aka Thomas, that she had met while working at the shelter. He was a veteran who was homeless and was suffering from some mental health issues, they were really were really quite interesting at that. Mot had been homeless for quite some time and he didn't want to live inside and have a normal life. He loved his life as a drifter you might say. He was quite accomplished at getting things done for himself as long as he was near a Walmart and a Library he was good to go.

He had asked her to meet him in Texas to catch up, and she was in such a state she thought why not. So she drove from West Virginia to Texas where she was to meet Mot in a Walmart parking lot. She had rented a cabin for a week for them to stay in, since at this time Mot was living in a beat up old wreck.

They share a very interesting and complex relationship, I would say she understands his mental illness but I'm not sure that's it at all. They have a mutual respect for one another and are just good friends. She has her times of frustrations with him as he does with her but they always come back around.

Sarah thinks that he would be much better if he came back home to West Virginia but he really doesn't want to go back at all, but does due to circumstances beyond his control.

The book is really good and you can see that there are some very good people out there who really care and want to help the disenfranchised almost to point of sacrificing their own families and happiness. I really admire Sarah for all she went through to help others in need and the sacrifices that she made in doing so. She is a true hero, we need many more like her. This book gives you an insight into what really happens to our mentally ill. It's so sad to think of our veterans living this way, where they aren't respected by the medical professionals even at some of the VA Hospitals. The patients have long waits to see the right medical professionals who will hopefully listen to them enough to give them the right diagnosis and medications to help them become the person they are meant to be. All mentally ill people who are living in homeless shelters need to get the right medical attention. They are not criminals, they just need help that we could provide them. True, I understand that some do not want to take their medications. But if they can control methadone they could do something like that for the mentally ill who are on the street who need their medications and are willing to take them. They want to live a productive life but they have no access to the medications to help them do that.

Like I said this is a well written book that is very thought provoking. After you finish reading this wonderful memoir you just keep thinking of these people and how can you help them.