More or Less Maddy: A Novel
**National Bestseller**
A “riveting page-turner” (Jean Kwok, New York Times bestselling author of Searching for Sylvie Lee) about a young woman diagnosed with bipolar disorder who rejects the stability and approval found in a traditionally “normal” life for a career in stand-up comedy.
Maddy Banks is just like any other stressed-out freshman at NYU. Between schoolwork, exams, navigating life in the city, and a recent breakup, it’s normal to be feeling overwhelmed. It doesn’t help that she’s always felt like the odd one out in her picture-perfect Connecticut family. But Maddy’s latest low is devastatingly low, convincing her to go on an antidepressant. She begins to feel good, dazzling good in fact, and she soon spirals high into a wild and terrifying mania that culminates in a diagnosis of bipolar disorder.
As she struggles to find her way in this new reality, navigating the complex effects bipolar has on her identity, her relationships, and her life dream, Maddy will have to figure out how to manage being both too much and not enough.
With her signature “deep empathy and insight” (Booklist), Harvard-trained neuroscientist and New York Times bestselling author Lisa Genova has crafted an “affecting, harrowing, beautiful, and enlightening” (Shelf Awareness) novel that makes complicated mental health issues accessible and human. More or Less Maddy is destined to become another classic like Still Alice.
A “riveting page-turner” (Jean Kwok, New York Times bestselling author of Searching for Sylvie Lee) about a young woman diagnosed with bipolar disorder who rejects the stability and approval found in a traditionally “normal” life for a career in stand-up comedy.
Maddy Banks is just like any other stressed-out freshman at NYU. Between schoolwork, exams, navigating life in the city, and a recent breakup, it’s normal to be feeling overwhelmed. It doesn’t help that she’s always felt like the odd one out in her picture-perfect Connecticut family. But Maddy’s latest low is devastatingly low, convincing her to go on an antidepressant. She begins to feel good, dazzling good in fact, and she soon spirals high into a wild and terrifying mania that culminates in a diagnosis of bipolar disorder.
As she struggles to find her way in this new reality, navigating the complex effects bipolar has on her identity, her relationships, and her life dream, Maddy will have to figure out how to manage being both too much and not enough.
With her signature “deep empathy and insight” (Booklist), Harvard-trained neuroscientist and New York Times bestselling author Lisa Genova has crafted an “affecting, harrowing, beautiful, and enlightening” (Shelf Awareness) novel that makes complicated mental health issues accessible and human. More or Less Maddy is destined to become another classic like Still Alice.
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Community Reviews
It has been almost 7 years since Lisa Genova wrote a book and it was worth the wait! She is not only an author, but she also holds a Ph.D. in Neuroscience so all of her stories deal with neurological conditions and our shared human connection. I have read and loved all of her books. This story is about bipolar disorder-it is sensitive, honest, raw and deeply moving. Maddy Banks is a 19-year-old NYU student who learns of her bipolar after being prescribed a stimulant for her depression from her university health center. The diagnosis itself is overwhelming but add in her treatment plan and new medications (which have their own side effects) it becomes very challenging to navigate, especially living with a mother obsessed with appearances. Maddy's journey has many highs and lows, and it takes an unexpected turn when she believes she can "do" comedy. Her overprotective mother thinks it's delusional like Maddy's belief she could be best friends with Taylor Swift. Her journey has many struggles as she learns to navigate through a world filled with expectations and societal norms. I loved Maddy so much and I was always rooting for her.
A really powerful story that offers a raw and compassionate portrayal of life with a bipolar disorder diagnosis. It’s authentic, heart-wrenching, and inspiring—shedding light on the highs, lows, and emotional complexity of living with this condition.
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