Select language, opens an overlay

Comment

Marbles H [Graphic]

Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me : a Graphic Memoir
Jul 22, 2013JCLChrisK rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
"I hadn't ever wanted to be healthy and balanced. I'd always been drawn to the "tortured artist" ideal: passionate and driven, sacrificing sleep, health, blood, sweat, tears. . . . Is bipolar disorder a curse, a source of misery and pain? A dangerous, often life-threatening disease? Or an inextricable, even essential part of many creative personalities? A source of inspiration and profound artistic work?" --- Ellen Forney bravely tells the story of her personal struggles with these questions after she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder as a passionate, 29-year-old artist. It was a struggle that lasted years, and she shares many intimate stories that illustrate the symptoms of her disorder as they played out in her life, admits to the many ways she resisted the treatments her doctor recommended, and relates her explorations into the connections between artistic genius and mental instability as she tried to come to terms with who she would become as a potentially balanced, stable, medicated person. It's a powerful journey because of her willingness to make herself so exposed and vulnerable to us.