Publishers Weekly
05/23/2022
In this powerful memoir, Missouri politician Kander (Outside the Wire) recounts withdrawing from the 2019 Kansas City mayoral race to seek treatment for PTSD. He describes how the 9/11 attacks motivated him to join the military after he finished his undergraduate studies in 2002, resulting in a four-month tour of duty in Afghanistan. Upon returning stateside, Kander developed symptoms he would later recognize as PTSD, including nightmares and a need to sit facing the door of any room he’s in. His illness dovetailed with his ambition and drove his political ascent, starting with his election to the Missouri House of Representatives in 2008: “I constantly told myself I’d feel better when I hit this quarterly fundraising goal, when I drew even in the polls, when I won the Senate race, and on and on and on.” While having suicidal thoughts and working to the point of exhaustion during his Kansas City mayoral run, Kander realized that “winning an office had never made any of it any better.” He dropped out and sought treatment, improving after learning to accept that “97 percent of what happens” is beyond one’s control. Kander displays a level of vulnerability not often seen in political memoirs, offering a bracing portrait of untreated PTSD and an insightful psychological profile of political ambition. Readers will appreciate the candor of this harrowing tale. (July)
From the Publisher
In Invisible Storm, author, soldier, activist, and political leader Jason Kander generously details his quest to manage and support his mental health as a road map for those who may be wary of the journey. With spare and unflinching narrative and unexpectedly humorous insights, he rejects the culture of shame and denial, boldly detailing how he often used his political career and ambitions to avoid confronting personal struggles. More importantly, he invites the reader inside his reckoning and the critical work of the aftermath. As we grapple with the toll of pandemic, unrest, and disruption, now is the time for a national referendum on how we elevate the importance of mental health, and the cause has no finer ambassador than the dynamic Jason Kander and his latest book.” — Stacey Abrams, politician and author of Lead from the Outside
“If you think war is rough, try politics! Jason Kander has written a deft, wonderful book about trying to serve our country in combat and in government. The war didn’t break him, but politics almost did. Woven through this extraordinary narrative is an important and enormously helpful account of his struggle with PTSD. I read Invisible Storm in one sitting and will be thinking about it for a long time to come.” — Sebastian Junger, bestselling author of Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging and War
“Invisible Storm is a truly special book. This combination of honesty, thoughtfulness, urgency, and vulnerability is not common in leaders, and Jason demonstrates boundless occupancy of all of these traits. You will learn, you will laugh, you will cry, you will think, and you will act. I’m thankful for everything that this book will do to make our society better.” — Wes Moore, New York Times bestselling author of The Other Wes Moore
“Kander displays a level of vulnerability not often seen in political memoirs, offering a bracing portrait of untreated PTSD and an insightful psychological profile of political ambition. Readers will appreciate the candor of this harrowing tale.” — Publishers Weekly
“Essential reading for those interested in the veteran experience as well as fans of political memoirs.” — Booklist (starred review)
“Invisible Storm is refreshingly raw. It’s almost haunting and yet so full of hope. I absolutely loved the choice to include Jason’s wife Diana’s first-person perspective throughout. In telling their story, the Kanders are telling the story of countless military families, but really, this is a book for anyone who has struggled with mental health or simply loved someone who has.” — Rachel Vindman, cohost of the podcast The Suburban Women Problem
“Jason going public with his diagnosis saved my life. I was suicidal and my life was crumbling. But after Jason came forward about his struggles with PTSD, I knew I could deal with my struggles too. Jason has truly shared his heart, soul, and courageous spirit with each of us in Invisible Storm. It’s an honest and heartfelt book. I can’t wait to see how many lives it improves. Because it will.” — TSgt (Ret.) Chuck Fox, US Air Force
“An extremely moving and honest account of a kickass public servant being gut-punched and knocked down by PTSD and getting back to his feet to resume kicking ass.” — Nick Offerman (via Twitter)
“A beautiful read for those who know the struggle of trauma and mental illness. An even better read for those who don’t.” — Mark Duplass (via Twitter)
“It’s a page-turning, inspiring story, and I know Jason and Diana’s courage and honesty will help so many. This is an indispensable read.” — Hillary Clinton (via Twitter)
“Brave, breathtakingly honest, and deeply humane.” — Mary Trump (via Twitter)
“A serious and funny memoir.” — Jimmy Kimmel (via Twitter)
"Kander’s advice is urgent and relevant: 'Either you deal with your trauma, or your trauma deals with you.' ... A heartfelt message borne of pain and true sacrifice." — Kirkus Reviews
Sebastian Junger
If you think war is rough, try politics! Jason Kander has written a deft, wonderful book about trying to serve our country in combat and in government. The war didn’t break him, but politics almost did. Woven through this extraordinary narrative is an important and enormously helpful account of his struggle with PTSD. I read Invisible Storm in one sitting and will be thinking about it for a long time to come.
TSgt (Ret.) Chuck Fox
Jason going public with his diagnosis saved my life. I was suicidal and my life was crumbling. But after Jason came forward about his struggles with PTSD, I knew I could deal with my struggles too. Jason has truly shared his heart, soul, and courageous spirit with each of us in Invisible Storm. It’s an honest and heartfelt book. I can’t wait to see how many lives it improves. Because it will.
Wes Moore
Invisible Storm is a truly special book. This combination of honesty, thoughtfulness, urgency, and vulnerability is not common in leaders, and Jason demonstrates boundless occupancy of all of these traits. You will learn, you will laugh, you will cry, you will think, and you will act. I’m thankful for everything that this book will do to make our society better.
Rachel Vindman
Invisible Storm is refreshingly raw. It’s almost haunting and yet so full of hope. I absolutely loved the choice to include Jason’s wife Diana’s first-person perspective throughout. In telling their story, the Kanders are telling the story of countless military families, but really, this is a book for anyone who has struggled with mental health or simply loved someone who has.
Stacey Abrams
In Invisible Storm, author, soldier, activist, and political leader Jason Kander generously details his quest to manage and support his mental health as a road map for those who may be wary of the journey. With spare and unflinching narrative and unexpectedly humorous insights, he rejects the culture of shame and denial, boldly detailing how he often used his political career and ambitions to avoid confronting personal struggles. More importantly, he invites the reader inside his reckoning and the critical work of the aftermath. As we grapple with the toll of pandemic, unrest, and disruption, now is the time for a national referendum on how we elevate the importance of mental health, and the cause has no finer an ambassador than the dynamic Jason Kander and his latest book.
Kirkus Reviews
2022-04-26
Redefining courage.
In his 2018 memoir, Outside the Wire, Kander shared lessons in courage he learned from serving in the ROTC, the Maryland National Guard, and as an officer during a deployment in Afghanistan from December 2006 to February 2007. For him, being a soldier was “the truest test of manhood,” giving him both a sense of purpose and order. “Every day I was a soldier,” he writes, “was a day I woke up and I knew exactly what I was doing and why I was doing it.” He strived to regain that sense of purpose in politics. He won a seat in the Missouri House of Representatives, was elected as Missouri’s Secretary of State, and was narrowly defeated for the U.S. Senate in 2016. Involved in ethics reform and voting rights, he founded the nonprofit Let America Vote. As he rose in stature, he was urged—including by Barack Obama—to enter the 2020 presidential race. However, as he reveals in a forthright chronicle of intensifying mental illness, years of undiagnosed PTSD sent him plummeting to a nadir of self-hatred. After he returned from Afghanistan, where he had been assigned to intelligence-gathering, he was overwhelmed by debilitating symptoms: night terrors, paranoid fear that someone would harm him or his family, volatile anger, and “unrelenting guilt and punishing shame” because he had not been involved in direct combat. By the time he sought help, he was thinking of suicide. Interwoven with Kander’s narrative are reflections by his wife, who suffered sadness, frustration, and isolation. With the support of therapists and the Veterans Community Project, both the author and his wife came to understand that his dangerous, terrifying experiences in Afghanistan—interviewing men who might kill him or whom he might have to kill—were no less traumatic than physical combat. Kander’s advice is urgent and relevant: “Either you deal with your trauma, or your trauma deals with you.
A heartfelt message borne of pain and true sacrifice.
