Vincent, Norah

Self-Made Man

For a year and a half, Vincent lived most of her life as Ned Vincent. She cut her hair in a buzz cut, wore rectangular glasses, and applied a fake five o'clock shadow to make her face look more masculine. Her height (5 feet, 10 inches) was an advantage, but she also lifted weights to add muscle bulk.

These preparations, along with a sports bra two sizes too small to bind her breasts, a padded jock strap, and baggy men's clothing completed her transformation. Several months of training with a Juilliard voice teacher taught her how to sound like a man. As Ned Vincent, she participated in an all-male bowling league, entered a monastery, and joined a male therapy group. The result was a book that earned a spot on the New York Times best seller list, won accolades from critics for its revelations about gender identity, and left Vincent depressed from the stress of undercover investigation.

Her depression was severe enough to prompt her to commit herself to a mental institution. That experience gave her the idea for her next book. Her research for Voluntary Madness took her first to a large, public, urban hospital that she found dehumanizing, then to a small, private hospital in the rural Midwest that was aesthetically and hygienically superior to the public hospital, and finally to an upscale, private hospital in the South that uses a mix of cognitive, behavioral, and New Age therapies. Vincent's indictment is broad enough to include drug companies, insurance companies, and members of the medical profession with “too close” ties to either.