Notes from the Trauma Party

The Trauma Party by Michae Keen is about a character with the same name as the author who struggles with sobriety, multiple relationships, and the hardships of being a social worker. In the book, he describes various situations with drug dealers, using cocaine, and managing romantic relationships. While the general themes are interesting, the execution is poor. Keen’s formatting is not that of a standard book and he provides 1-3 page snippets of various stories. While the theme is congruent, this makes it extremely difficult for the reader to follow along with the development of the characters and the timeline of the story itself. What I do appreciate about Keen’s story is that he shows the dark side of social work. As a fellow MSW Professional, I appreciated his truthfulness in regard to the profession. However, Keen’s writing style would be better used in poetry or prose. For example, in the beginning, Keen uses long run-on sentences that would indicate he is in a manic episode. While I appreciate the creativity, someone without a clinical background would be confused and put off by the incorrect grammar usage. Overall, I left thinking that the author should be seeing a therapist.