Makes intimate and personal the American dilemma of the turn of the 1920's, an age of eager but anxious pursuit of financial success and social status through commerce. Maitland (Matey) White has built an enviable life for his family by working doggedly for a soap manufacturer, having abandoned his youthful dreams to be a painter. At 43, encouraged by his wife, Nancy, he determines to take a leave from business and pick up a brush. But when their gifted son determines to give up his own artistic ambitions for financial security, just as a turn in the markets squeezes the family's resources, Matey and Nancy must face decisions they thought they'd put behind them -- this time, without the naive confidence of their youth.

18-year-old wannabe writer Matthew finds himself washed-up on the English Riviera, forced to take up work as a carer in a low-rent Nursing Home just to keep a roof over his head. He soon crosses paths with childhood friend Roxy; a streetwise aspiring musician suffering from schizophrenia, who opens up a world of chaos and colourful characters, and encourages Matthew to take a job on a secure Psychiatric Unit instead. There, he quickly realises that he's traded "changing nappies and soaping up old people's saggy bits" for a daily onslaught of abuse, restraints and genuine insanity. But when he falls into a relationship with ex-patient Laura, a single-mum with a troubled past, things really do start to get crazy. ​Always bitingly honest, sometimes darkly funny and occasionally tragic, “Man vs Crazy” is a coming of age memoir about the true price of the often traumatic journey into adulthood.