Madness: A Bipolar Life | 
|  | | | Title: | Madness: A Bipolar Life | | Author: | Marya Hornbacher | | Publisher: | Houghton Mifflin | | Type: | Book / Hardcover | | Publication Date: | 09 April, 2008 | | ISBN / ISBN-13: | 0618754458 / 9780618754458 | | List Price: | $25.00 | | You Save: | $10.22 | | Amazon Price: | $14.78 | |
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| Editorial Review / Publisher's Information:
Product Description
An astonishing dispatch from inside the belly of bipolar disorder, reflecting major new insights
When Marya Hornbacher published her first book, Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia, she did not yet have the piece of shattering knowledge that would finally make sense of the chaos of her life. At age twenty-four, Hornbacher was diagnosed with Type I rapid-cycle bipolar, the most severe form of bipolar disorder.
In Madness, in her trademark wry and utterly self-revealing voice, Hornbacher tells her new story. Through scenes of astonishing visceral and emotional power, she takes us inside her own desperate attempts to counteract violently careening mood swings by self-starvation, substance abuse, numbing sex, and self-mutilation. How Hornbacher fights her way up from a madness that all but destroys her, and what it is like to live in a difficult and sometimes beautiful life and marriage -- where bipolar always beckons -- is at the center of this brave and heart-stopping memoir.
Madness delivers the revelation that Hornbacher is not alone: millions of people in America today are struggling with a variety of disorders that may disguise their bipolar disease. And Hornbacher's fiercely self-aware portrait of her own bipolar as early as age four will powerfully change, too, the current debate on whether bipolar in children actually exists.
Ten years after Kay Redfield Jamison's An Unquiet Mind, this storm of a memoir will revolutionize our understanding of bipolar disorder.
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Customer Reviews:
• Bipolars... Hear Me Out 08 November, 2008
Marya is an amazing writer and her literary gift puts you right in the middle of her psychotic episodes. So on sheer literary value, this book would get 5 stars for me. It was gripping, emotionally intense, and very well-written.
That being said, this book is being hailed as an end-all, be-all for Bipolar disorder and as a female with exactly the same diagnosis as Marya (Ultra Rapid Cycling Bipolar I) but without an eighth of the crazy that she has, it's important to remember that Bipolar is a SPECTRUM disorder and she is at the FAR crazy end of it, a near worst case possibility that is not typical in the least. This is yet another book that makes the general population terrified of people with Bipolar disorder. I haven't seen many books at ALL that will gently remind you that Bipolar is a spectrum disorder and there ARE people out there with these tragic diagnoses (like myself) who still get up every day, go to work, and function as productive members of our society. Just because she needs a visit to the funny farm a few times a year and about 18 different chemicals in her bloodstream at any given moment doesn't mean that all or even MOST people who live with Manic Depression are the same.
On that basis, I deduct a point from the book because it focuses on her experience, her diagnosis, her reckless abandon, and her low functionality in a world that expects she at least get out of her pj's every day, without acknowledging that she is indeed, out of her mind. She never takes more than a sentence to remind the world that she's on the far end of a SPECTRUM disorder. She just writes down her experiences with the disorder, a bunch of jumbled facts, and closes the book out. And on fear factor alone (my MIL started hovering over me every time I used a steak knife for a month after reading this book), this book barely keeps the four stars I'm giving it. It'll scare the crap out of you... make you think that Bipolar = crazy... and tell you ALL about how she's dealt with her crazy (Coke and booze binges anyone??). But it's hardly the end-all, be-all memoir on living with Manic Depression.
Bipolar people... Read it to remind yourself... I might be out of my mind but at least I'm not THAT bad (and DO be warned that every bipolar person I know has had an episode triggered by reading this book Including myself!!). Supporters of Bipolar people... read it and remind yourself that this is the worst case scenario. And for all others interested in how Bipolar people think or are... Check out Detour by Lizzie Simon... a MUCH better read on the spectrum of Bipolar Disorder and the disorganized world of a Manic Depressive mind... WITHOUT the fear factor this and most other books on the subject give you.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A3AJRXD3W0MXSR
• Madness: A Bipolar Life 04 November, 2008
If you want to know what it's like having Bipolar Disorder, this is the book for you. It's a great resource for friends and family members who want to know what their loved one is going through while afflicted with the disorder. The author is able to describe her thought process while in a manic or depressive phase. If you have this disorder yourself, you'll see by reading this book how accurate this autobiography is. I've read several books on bipolar, and this one is by far the best.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A5NU4JR29NGLC
• Excellent Book 09 November, 2008
Hornbacher's book is an excellent portrayal of bipolar disorder. She has done all of us with bipolar disease a favor by publishing her story. Unlike some of the books out there, her story is both compelling and honest, not merely a bid for attention. Well done, Marya!
- Reviewed by customer ID: A1ZGZ05WDH9X6V
• Did You Like Wasted? Well, This May Not Be For You. 10 November, 2008
I was surpised upon reading Madness that it seemed practically to be written by a different author, because it is so different than Wasted. Reading Madness feels almost like an experience of mania itself. While Wasted featured thoughtful, eloquent, and introspective prose, Madness is larged bogged in physical, visceral emotions... which frankly gets repetitive.
Compared to Wasted, Madness just didn't seem thoughtfully written. It's easy to empathize with the author, but as a reader, the experience is not especially memorable.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A2T5VSWN46FFAI
• Interesting And Painfully Self-absorbed 23 October, 2008
I like this book despite the repetition. I thought she spent much time describing recurring episodes of both mania and depression to the point I was getting tired of the words "crazy" and "mad"; and I also think she is a talented writer with an ability to paint an emotional picture vividly. I found it to be a moderately interesting book that gives a detailed description of the feelings of a person with severe bipolar illness.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A1C4NYKXG0ZBK9
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