Title: Manic: A Memoir
Author: Terri Cheney
Year: 2009
Category: Personal Stories
Premise: Terri Cheney is a lawyer. A good one. But she hides her symptoms of bipolar disorder from the world, especially from work. This leads her to continue to experience the highs and lows of bipolar disorder. Her book consists of short pieces that illustrate a specific state of mood across time.
Review: Manic is one of a kind. It pulls the reader into each chapter, each story, as though you are really there. Cheney has the reader feeling the depths of her depression to the highs of her mania. From feeling like it's time to die by suicide to being arrested by cops who mistake her as being on drugs, Cheney vividly shares her experiences, "But when you're heading up toward mania the slightest sensation hotwires your nerves. Sound is noise, sunshine a glare..."(page 60). This so accurately reflects my own experience with mania. My sensory becomes hypersensitive and everything is on high alert.
Recommendation: This well-known book is well-known for a reason. It tactfully bring the reader into the world of bipolar disorder and I cannot recommend it enough.
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