NONFICTION - April 3, 1994

CRAZY ALL THE TIME: Life, Lessons, and Insanity on the Psych Ward of Bellevue Hospital by Frederick L. Covan, Ph.D. with Carol Kahn (Simon & Schuster: $23; 279 pp.) Delusional typists. Rumors of rape stemming from a misunderstood elevator conversation. A Jewish-Puerto Rican conspiracy. This is all part of the bizarre and entertaining environment Fred Covan, chief psychologist at New York’s Bellevue hospital, works in everyday. In addition to myriad other responsibilities, part of Covan’s job is to supervise nine doctoral candidates in clinical psychology during their yearlong internship at Bellevue. “Crazy All the Time,” is Covan’s account of the trainees experiences as he guides them through extremely challenging cases.

One intern, the uptight son of a prominent psychiatrist, has to deal with a very ill woman who appears to be pregnant and claims the baby is his. In another instance, a man cuts his penis off, and the intern assigned to the case has to learn not to judge such a horrific act.

The good news about “Crazy All the Time,” is that it is superbly written. Characters are fully drawn in a few sentences. The balance created between humor, depth and drama is nothing short of perfect, and like most top-notch writing it all seems effortless. The one disadvantage of such a strong book, is that its flaws scream out like a homeless schizophrenic.

Some of the people and events described here seem too simple. Bureaucrats are mindless, artists are rebellious and the nine interns are all so slow that one suspects a device reminiscent of Dr. Watson losing about 20 IQ points to make Holmes look smarter. Also, while Covan is obviously a dedicated man, he often appears controlling and arrogant. In spite of those problems, though, this is a wonderful book.