"Sylvia Frumkin," a highly intelligent young girl, became a schizophrenic in her late teens and spent most of the next seventeen years in and out of mental institutions. Susan Sheehan, a talented reporter, followed "Sylvia" for almost a year, talking with and observing her, listening to her monologues, sitting in on consultations with doctors, even for a period sleeping in the bed next to her in a mental hospital.