Angelhead. My brother's descent into madness

“My brother saw the face of God. You never recover from a trauma like that.” This is the beginning of Michael Bottoms's descent into madness. The journey was a long and painful one characterised by desperation and ultimately despair. Consequently, this—his brother's account of the journey—is a dark and arduous book.

Michael developed schizophrenia after taking LSD. Perhaps the LSD contributed; perhaps it precipitated that first psychotic episode; perhaps it played no part at all. Bottoms remembers that Michael had always been odd, mean, and violent. There was …