Pete Earley is the author and narrator of the book, as well as the father of Mike Earley. At the time when Earley wrote Crazy, driven by his own experiences with his son’s mental illness, Earley was a Washington Post reporter with extensive experience covering the criminal justice system in his 30 years as a journalist. He was also the author of several other books covering areas of crime and justice, including Family of Spies: Inside the John Walker Spy Ring and Circumstantial Evidence: Death, Life, and Justice in a Southern Town. Earley was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2007 for Crazy.

Earley’s narrative as a father to Mike is woven throughout the reported sections of the book. Despite his decades of experience as a journalist, Earley finds himself overwhelmed by his son’s mental illness. The reader is meant to relate to Earley, whose curiosity, outrage, and observations let the reader in on his point of view of the American criminal justice and mental health systems. Throughout the book, the author comes to terms with his misconceptions about people with mental illnesses, examines the social stigma surrounding mental illness, and identifies where reforms must be made.