The Three Christs of Ypsilanti

A Psychological Study

By: Milton Rokeach, Rick Moody - introduction

Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins, Rick Moody

On July 1, 1959, at Ypsilanti State Hospital in Michigan, the social psychologist Milton Rokeach brought together three paranoid schizophrenics: Clyde Benson, an elderly farmer and alcoholic; Joseph Cassel, a failed writer who was institutionalized after increasingly violent behavior toward his family; and Leon Gabor, a college dropout and veteran of World War II.

The men had one thing in common: each believed himself to be Jesus Christ. Their extraordinary meeting and the two years they spent in one another's company serves as the basis for an investigation into the nature of human identity, belief, and delusion that is poignant, amusing, and at times disturbing. Displaying the sympathy and subtlety of a gifted novelist, Rokeach draws us into the lives of three troubled and profoundly different men who find themselves "confronted with the ultimate contradiction conceivable for human beings: more than one person claiming the same identity".

©1964; 1981; 2011 Milton Rokeach; afterword by Milton Rokeach; introduction by Rick Moody (P)2018 Audible, Inc.

Hilarious 😂

I was promised crazy 🤪 people yelling at each other that they’re Christ 😇. I was not disappointed 👌

Too long

the furst few hours are fine and give good background on the characters. But, it then drags on and on and none of the characters get better.

Remarkably unethical

An interesting book in basic idea and a look into mental health care in the past, though I’m not sure I can call it care since it doesn’t seem the patients received any actual treatment. The study was pretty wildly unethical but I know a lot of studies at the time were. It was still worth a listen