Nellie Bly, a reporter, feigned madness in order to gain admission to an asylum. It didn't take too much effort for her to be diagnosed as insane, and taken away. In the asylum, she acted normally again, but nobody seemed to notice. If she had not been a reporter, she probably would have been stuck there forever. Her writing is clear, intelligent, humorous, and compassionate. Some of the stories of the asylum residents are heartbreaking, and the conditions sound horrendous.