Electroboy: A Memoir of ManiaElectroboy is an emotionally frenzied memoir that reveals with kaleidoscopic intensity the terrifying world of manic depression. For years Andy Behrman hid his raging mania behind a larger-than-life personality. He sought a high wherever he could find one and changed jobs the way some people change outfits: filmmaker, PR agent, art dealer, stripper-whatever made him feel like a cartoon character, invincible and bright. Misdiagnosed by psychiatrists and psychotherapists for years, his condition exacted a terrible price: out-of-control euphoric highs and tornadolike rages of depression that put his life in jeopardy. Ignoring his crescendoing illness, Behrman struggled to keep up appearances, clinging to the golden-boy image he had cultivated in his youth. But when he turned to art forgery, he found himself the subject of a scandal lapped up by the New York media, then incarcerated, then under house arrest. And for the first time the golden boy didn’t have a ready escape hatch from his unraveling life. Ingesting handfuls of antidepressants and tranquilizers and feeling his mind lose traction, he opted for the last resort: electroshock therapy. At once hilarious and harrowing, Electroboy paints a mesmerizing portrait of a man held hostage by his in-satiable desire to consume. Along the way, it shows us the New York that never sleeps: a world of strip clubs, after-hours dives, and twenty-four-hour coffee shops, whose cheap seductions offer comfort to the city’s lonely souls. This unforgettable memoir is a unique contribution to the literature of mental illness and introduces a writer whose energy may well keep you up all night. |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Allison Andy Behrman Annike apartment asks bathroom believe brain clients coke comes couch crazy deal dealers Diet Coke dinner doctor door Doritos drink electroshock treatments Esmor F.A.O. Schwarz father feel film floor Fried friends frightened fucking gallery give going hair hand head hospital Jonathan keep Kleinman Kostabi World laughing Lauren leave living look magazine Manhattan mania manic depression Mark Kostabi medication meet ment minutes months mood morning never night obsessed paintings parents pick pretty Prozac psychiatrist Ralph Lauren realize restaurant Risperdal Rolodex says seems sister sleep smile spend starts stay Street Strudel studio sure talk television tell There's thing tofu treatment Upper West Side vodka waiting walk Wallenstein watching wearing week what's York York magazine York Post Zabar's