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Top Work of Journalism of the Decade (nominee) – NYU Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute

40 Best Nonfiction Books of 2018 – Esquire

​​The Most Anticipated Books of January 2018 – Vogue
18 Nonfiction Books to Watch For in the First Half of 2018​ – CBC
The 30 Most Anticipated Nonfiction Books of 2018 – Bitch

​​​​21 Books to Read in 2018 – The Week

​​The Most Anticipated Books for the First Half of 2018 – The Rumpus​
Book Club Pick for January 2018​ – Bookish

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“This book is an act of radical empathy through which the author—and, vicariously, the reader—enters intimately into a life that would otherwise be unintelligible.”

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– Anne Fadiman, author of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

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“To pay great attention and devote steady care to the perspective of another is, in itself, almost miraculous—especially when the Other has been cast as mad and dangerous.[Sandy] Allen has brought forward [his] uncle’s life, rendering in exquisite detail what his experiences as a stigmatized, struggling man allowed him to see. This is a truly original piece of work. I urge you to read it.”

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– Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, author of Random Family

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"I know the decision to write this story wasn't an easy one.... I’m really, really grateful that you did 💖 Thank you for bearing witness. Thank you for being kind, and curious, and thorough, and honest. Just, thank you. 📚😭

– Heben Nigatu (host, Another Round)

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"Timely . . . An excellent contextualized first-person narrative of schizophrenia . . . My hope is that it will become a classic and universally read by all psychiatrists."

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– Howard L. Forman, MD, Psychiatric Times

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"Thrilling writing . . . The interest and the quality of the story make honesty about each aspect of this strange life worth including . . . A watershed in empathetic adaptation of 'outsider' autobiography."

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– Jo Livingstone, The New Republic

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“A book of many strange and often oddly beautiful pieces that together combine into a story that will make you tremble. [AKOMP] is a resurrection of sorts, a profound retrieval of a life from beyond the veil with which so many of us obscure the realities of illness and family, loneliness and intimacy.”

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– Jeff Sharlet, author of The Family

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"It is an odd thing, paranoia. It’s easily lampooned and culturally accessible, but it’s seldom experienced or portrayed so elegantly as Allen does here."

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– B. David Zarley for Paste Magazine*

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"In a searing new memoir, [Allen] tries to make sense of [his] uncle's mental illness."

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– O Magazine

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“[Allen] calls the beautiful final product a cover version—rather than a translation—and it is a marvel.”​

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– Esquire

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"Insightful . . . Allen offers readers an incredible glimpse into the life of a person ... with schizophrenia."

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– Publishers Weekly

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"A glimpse of how schizophrenia looks and feels from the inside."

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– Kirkus Reviews

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“Deeply affecting . . . Evokes what it’s like to try to make sense of a troubled loved one from afar . . . The picture of a distinct but impenetrable life”

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– LA Review of Books

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“[A] compelling debut . . . Allen is a skillful writer."

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– Library Journal (starred review)

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"Allen has crafted a fearless narrative about what it is really like to grow up under the weight of mental illness . . . Honest, heartbreaking, and often humorous, this remarkable book offers a window into an experience of mental illness that many people often never get the chance to see through."

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– Bustle

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“Compulsively readable . . . A fascinating and important work.”

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– Booklist

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""[AKOMP ] is an extraordinarily empathic journey into the mind and lived experience of a man who struggled to understand and explain his life . . . I urge you to let Allen introduce you to [his] uncle Bob."

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– Little Village Magazine

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“Shows a burgeoning critical mental health gaze . . . [Allen] allows Bob’s story to flow without neatly fitting into one model of thought around what it means to be diagnosed with schizophrenia."

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– ISPS UK

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More reviews:

Minneapolis Star Tribune, Winnipeg Free Press, The Rumpus, Los Feliz Ledger, Signature Reads

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interviews with Sandy Allen

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 – for The Los Angeles Times with Maris Kreizman ("Compelling . . . A bracing work of art and a loving tribute to a man whose voice, no matter how unpolished, deserves to be heard.")

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– for The Boston Globe with Kate Tuttle, president of the National Book Critics Circle

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– for The Cedar Rapids Gazette with Rob Cline ("A unique and effective effort to honor [his] uncle’s story while placing it in a larger context . . . Allen asks [his] readers to expand their notion of what is 'normal.'")

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– for The Missoulian with Chris La Tray 

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– for The Daily Texan with Brooke Sjoberg

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– for The Daily Iowan with Haley Triem

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–  for The Essay Review with Nicolás Medina Mora

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radio & podcast appearances

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– This American Life –  "Applied Bob Studies" 

Produced during the pandemic by Bim Adewunmi for the "How to Be Alone" episode, a piece on the ways Sandy looked to his Uncle Bob's story as a road map for how to survive isolation

– WAMC's "The Roundtable"

– New Books in Psychology podcast 

– KCUR's "Up to Date"

– XRAY.fm's "In the Morning"

– Woodstock Book Talk Radio!

– Blog Talk Radio with Cyrus Webb

– "Moments with Marianne" with Marianne Pestana

– MPR News with Kerri Miller

– IPR's "Talk of Iowa"

– KCRW's "The Organist"  a feature on AKOMP and outsider art, featuring Uncle Bob's music

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related works​

 Since the book's publication, Sandy has continued writing and publishing about mental health, in pieces such as: 

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The Cut - "It's Not Just Britney"

In the wake of Britney Spears speaking out against her conservatorship, an essay on the broader problem of coercive psychiatry

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99% Invisible – "The Kirkbride Plan" 

A long radio story produced by Sandy about the surprising history of mental health care in America 

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Guernica – "Out of the Maze"  

The story of Sandy encountering the painting on the AKOMP paperback, and about grappling with whose truths to listen to, when it comes to "mental illness" 

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Mad in America – "Media Errors in Covering Mental Health: Advice to  Fellow Writers and Editors" 

A long essay looking back on a previous experience of reporting about police violence against a psychiatric patient, and the errors that media tend to make when covering these topics 

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Gay Magazine – "'That's So Crazy': Why the we talk about mental health matters" 

An essay about a month Sandy tracked instances they heard people use words like "insane" and "crazy" and what this language reveals about our attitudes towards people diagnosed with psychiatric disorders 

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Lit Hub – "The Challenge of Book Tour as a Nonbinary Author" 

Sandy reflects on coming out as nonbinary after their book initially published 

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BuzzFeed Books – "How Pie Keeps Me Steady" 

An essay about a small thing that helps Sandy, and about how writing AKOMP changed their thinking around 'self-care'

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Powell's Blog – "The Madness Shelf" – 

An essay about Sandy reading all the books they possibly could "about schizophrenia" and what that did and didn't yield

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CNN Opinion – "This Toxic Lie Hurts Society's Most Vulnerable" 

An op-ed calling out the bigotry of the NRA and GOP's as they blame people with psychiatric disabilities for gun violence 

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