Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me, Ellen Forney, 2012
Courtesy Ellen Forney and Penguin Random House LLC
For her graphic memoir about her experiences having bipolar disorder, author and artist Ellen Forney explains that she used several different drawing styles to show her different moods.
In Marbles, Forney chronicles her diagnosis shortly before turning 30 and her ability to come to terms with the disease, especially her fear that medication will dull or distort her creativity and livelihood. Within her own narrative, Forney includes stories of famous artists and writers who also may have suffered from mood disorders in an effort to highlight the tension between public conceptions of the relationship between crazy and creative. The memoir captures the highs and lows of bipolar disorder, along with the effectiveness and impact of various treatment options from lithium to yoga.
For more information about bipolar disorder, visit MedlinePlus.
