Official Review: Triumphant by I.A. Penn
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Official Review: Triumphant by I.A. Penn
Triumphant is the brief but impactful autobiography and self-assessment of author I.A. Penn. The author manages to pack quite a bit of information into a small number of pages as she discusses her personal difficulties and triumphs, beginning with her birth in a home for unwed mothers fifty-six years ago. In court, the author’s father claimed not to have known her mother, even though the pair had dated for two years prior to the author’s conception. The court denied the mother’s claims, and the father departed the United States, returning to his homeland in Ghana. He left the author and her mother destitute.
The author candidly discusses her type one bipolar disorder and her difficulties learning in a traditional educational environment. Overall, she has flourished despite these challenges. The author is evidently very intelligent and has taught herself many things. What she has learned has led to many interesting professional opportunities. With the help of her younger sister and compassionate hired caregivers, she was able to raise her own two children to be capable and overall well-adjusted adults although at times her mental state was such that she was unable to care for them herself.
I give Triumphant four out of four stars. As someone who has type two bipolar disorder, I found myself resonating with many of the stories the author told. I also agree with her that the current educational system only works for people whose minds work a certain way. It does not tend to work well for people with brains that are wired differently, such as individuals with autism or conditions such as bipolar disorder.
The thing I liked best about the book was the author’s forthrightness about her struggles, both as a black person born into poverty and raised by a single mother living with a major mental illness, and as a person with a major mental illness trying to raise her own children and to excel on a personal level. I also liked the fact that while the author is a devout believer in God, she never preaches or proselytizes.
There was nothing that I disliked about the book. It was well-written and professionally edited. There were no errors in the text. I generally prefer shorter paragraphs, but the long paragraph style echoes the stream of consciousness that tends to be a feature of bipolar disorder. I would have liked it if the book had been a bit longer, so I would say the thing I disliked most about the book was the fact that it was too short.
Triumphant is a great choice for people who enjoy autobiographies and who are interested in subjects such as medicine and psychology. It would not be a good choice for someone seeking a literary escape to a fictional world.
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Triumphant
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