Madness is gripping, intelligent, insightful and well-written. It equals Kay Redfield Jamison's An Unquiet Mind as one of the best accounts of an individual's personal experience of bipolar disorder. There is no better account of bipolar disorder in its rapid cycling form, and the book is a must-read for those wanting or needing to better understand that form of the illness.

The last third of the book would be the most useful and affecting section for those who are trying to understand and help a friend or loved-one who has bipolar disorder. Hornbacher devotes considerable space to her growing insight into her moods and how they affect her behavior, her changing attitude toward medication and treatment, and her discovery of various habits and ways of thinking that help moderate her mood swings. The concluding chapter is a powerful, bittersweet assessment of the rewards of having bipolar disorder despite the painful accommodations one must make to remain living with this condition.

My only regret, from the perspective those who are trying to sustain a relationship with someone with bipolar disorder, is that Hornbacher did not devote more time to detailing what worked and didn't work in her relationships with her parents, husband, friends and employers. There is some material addressing these subjects, and much of it shows great insight, but this was not the purpose of her book. I was disappointed that she did not go into greater detail here.

DP