Friday Finds: Marbles
FRIDAY FINDS showcases the books you ‘found’ and added to your To Be Read (TBR) list… whether you found them online, or in a bookstore, or in the library — wherever! (they aren’t necessarily books you purchased).
I came across Marbles by Ellen Fornney at Indigo while trying to figure out which graphic novel to get my partner. The bright blue over the cover caught my eye and of course as soon as I saw the words “mania” and “depression” I decided I would have to get this book at one point. Lucky for me I had been saving a $10 Amazon.com gift card I received for completing a survey! This graphic memoir will be one of the last books I read (I try and read in the order I’ve purchased because they’ll have been sitting and waiting the longest) but I’m very excited because I have never read a graphic anything before!
“Cartoonist Ellen Forney explores the relationship between “crazy” and “creative” in this graphic memoir of her bipolar disorder, woven with stories of famous bipolar artists and writers.
Shortly before her thirtieth birthday, Forney was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Flagrantly manic and terrified that medications would cause her to lose creativity, she began a years-long struggle to find mental stability while retaining her passions and creativity.
Searching to make sense of the popular concept of the crazy artist, she finds inspiration from the lives and work of other artists and writers who suffered from mood disorders, including Vincent van Gogh, Georgia O’Keeffe, William Styron, and Sylvia Plath. She also researches the clinical aspects of bipolar disorder, including the strengths and limitations of various treatments and medications, and what studies tell us about the conundrum of attempting to “cure” an otherwise brilliant mind.
Darkly funny and intensely personal, Forney’s memoir provides a visceral glimpse into the effects of a mood disorder on an artist’s work, as she shares her own story through bold black-and-white images and evocative prose.”
Posted on January 11, 2013, in Friday Finds, Should Be Reading and tagged bipolar, book, depression, Ellen Forny, Friday Finds, graphic novel, mania, Marbles, memoir, mental health, mental illness, read, Should Be Reading. Bookmark the permalink. 6 Comments.
I will have to put this on my to read list. Thank you for the recommendation.
Looks like I’ll be checking out Amazon again…….. And book described as “Darkly funny and intensely personal” is my type of book.
Plus pictures!
Ellen’s work has always been great, plus I met her a bit in the late 90′s through mutual friends and she’s very cool.
That is awesome! I’m excited to get around to her memoir!
Yes, pictures; I think I’ll give up reading for Lent