5/22/2023 0 Comments Marbles by Ellen Forney![]() As her psychiatrist warned her, memory is mood-specific. This sounds like a good plan on paper, but it doesn’t work. After all, the mania boosts her creative energies and, as a professional illustrator, creativity is her livelihood. She tries storing creative ideas to give herself fodder to work off of when depression returns and she’s not able to think as creatively. Why would she want that?Įllen Forney’s illustration from “Marbles”Īt first she attempts to create balance without medicating. ![]() Her view from way up high makes medication look like a one-way ticket to Zombiedom. She’s swimming, running, throwing parties, MCing her own production. This happened to be a time when she was riding a particularly high mania, loaded with physical energy, in touch with cosmic forces and creatively prolific. The journey begins when Forney is diagnosed with bipolar disorder shortly before her 30th birthday. Forney doesn’t hold back on her fears, perceptions, struggles or pursuit of finding effective treatment. It’s sad in parts, fascinating in others. Whether you have a mental illness, know someone who does, have an interest in what it’s like or just love a well crafted graphic memoir, you’ll find company between these pages. ![]() There are all kinds of reasons to read this book. Smitten with Ellen Forney’s illustrations in Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutley True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, I went to her website and found she had her own book out! Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo and Me is a graphic memoir about life following her bipolar diagnosis. ![]()
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