A Speccy Man Has a Breakdown | The book
A psychiatric admission. A new pair of glasses. A sketchbook
“What a tough, shining, fiercely charming thing you’ve made. It reminded me so much of Michael Rosen’s Sad Book.” – Rhik Samadder, author of I Never Said I Loved You
A few years ago, John-Paul Flintoff told his wife he thought he was worthless and wished he was dead.
She sent him to a psychiatrist, and shortly after collecting his first pair of spectacles, he had himself admitted to hospital.
He forgot to pack a toothbrush. He did take a sketchbook and pens.
Over the following weeks – and the difficult months that followed – he drew everything: the nurses, the patients, the visitors, the food, the view from the window. Nearly 300 drawings. He also wrote, in the same deadpan tone he’d used for years as a journalist at the Financial Times and the Sunday Times.
This is that account.
It is not a recovery manual. It is not an inspirational story. It is simply what happened – told with the same attention he would give any assignment – and illustrated, on almost every page, by the man who was there.
For anyone who has wondered what it is actually like inside, and why it’s hard to come out.
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Inside the book
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What authors are saying
“I found this book moving, funny, and honest in a way that has the power to liberate others.” – Oliver Burkeman, bestselling author of Four Thousand Weeks
“Funny, truthful, heartbreaking and deadly serious all at the same time – and the drawings are just delicious. Deserves a wide audience.” – Julie Myerson, author of Home and The Lost Child
“I read it in one sitting. Warm, insightful, beautiful and even amusing.” – Tim Lott, author of The Scent of Dried Roses
What readers are saying
“I just read your book, and I’m blown away. Moving and funny and clever and open and true. I love your pictorial style, the colours, the faces, the tenderness.” – Reader
“So powerful, raw and honest. It brought tears to my eyes. Thank you for publishing it.” – Reader
“I love the book. You’ve done it perfectly gloriously. It is moving, will be illuminating for many and recognisable to many others, from their own experience.” – Reader
“The drawing is so simple and expressive. I suppose it took a few minutes to do – plus a lifetime.” – Reader
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Special collectors first edition
This is my first self-published book, and started as 250 numbered, signed, stitch-bound hardbacks, with a collectors-edition dust-jacket.
Every copy includes a signed, numbered A5 art print: “Do Your Tapping and Think of Something Pleasant (Anything)”.
More than half are now in readers’ hands.
Current and future buyers are listed on the patrons page, alongside readers in Europe, North America, Africa and Asia.
They also get access to the complete email series I wrote while making the book – a 60+ day account of choosing from ~300 drawings, against a self-imposed deadline, told from the inside, including audio recordings of most entries read aloud by the author.
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If you aren’t yet ready to buy, read more here. Otherwise:
Get your copy
Buy Now 👉 Collectors limited first edition