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Mohrbooks Literary Agency
Sebastian Ritscher
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English
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MODERN MADNESS

Terri Cheney

An Owner's Manual

With gripping narrative and hard-won wisdom, Terri Cheney, the NYT bestselling author, tackles one of the most urgent and compelling questions of our times: What does mental illness look like, and what can we do about it? Cheney's MODERN MADNESS is OPERATING INSTRUCTION (Anne Lamott) for mental illness.
With suicide rates exploding and the rates of mental health diagnoses increasing, there has never been a greater need to grapple with the complexities of the troubled mind.

Terri Cheney knows this first hand. In her bestselling memoir, Manic, Cheney offered a gripping, no-holds-barred account of her bipolar disorder that nearly killed her. Now, in Modern Madness, she brings her narrative gifts to a book that is rich with practical insight. Structured like an owner's manual, Cheney portrays the experience of mental illness from the inside out, drawing on her own struggle and recovery to illuminate a world that often seems forbidding or frightening. Using narrative as a springboard, Cheney explores broader issues common to all diagnoses, like stigma, coping skills, relationship dilemmas, and the vicissitudes of treatment. With a clear focus on the need for acceptance, both personal and public, Modern Madness is riveting, heartbreaking, and ultimately, hopeful. Not just for readers with a diagnosis, it will be invaluable for anyone looking to understand mental illness.

Terri Cheney is the author of the New York Times bestseller Manic: A Memoir, which was translated into eight foreign languages. Terri's writings and commentary about bipolar disorder have also been featured in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Huffington Post, NPR, PsychologyToday.com, and countless articles and popular blogs. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Saks Institute for Mental Health Law, Policy, and Ethics at USC, the Honorary Board of Directors of the International Bipolar Foundation, and the Board of Directors of Project Return Peer Support Network. She also served on the Community Advisory Board of the UCLA Mood Disorders Research Program. She founded and facilitates a weekly mental health support group at UCLA's Neuropsychiatric Institute. She currently lives in Los Angeles.

Cheney's previous book, MANIC, was translated into eight foreign languages: Spanish (Suma); German (Patmos); Hebrew (Modan); Dutch (Archipel); Turkish (Minima Yayinlari); Indonesian (PT Elex Media); UK (HarperUK); Portuguese (Larousse)
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Published 2020-09-08 by Hachette Go

Comments

NPR interviewed Terri Cheney about her book MODERN MADNESS and how the pandemic may affect people living with mental illnesses. Read more...

Terri Cheney paints a compelling picture of the mind of someone with mental illness, helping us to understand what it must feel like and causing us to sympathize with, not fear, those who suffer. Her book is a real stigma-buster -- and a must-read.

Terri Cheney's unflinching commitment to telling her own truth on her own terms moved me into a new place of compassion. Hers is an unparalleled--and deeply necessary--voice.

With taut and witty prose, Terri Cheney takes us on an unblinking tour of the actual experience of bipolar disorder. Each chapter allows us to experience the daily joy, terror, resolve and compassion of a mind bargaining with itself. This is not just a recital of clinical symptoms, this is a journey into the human psyche. It is a stunning addition to the literature on mental illness and should be required reading for all medical students and mental health professionals.

..."I had to be very careful when I was writing my notes not to let the fresh scars show," Terri Cheney, the author of Modern Madness tells PEOPLE about her 1992 meeting with client Michael Jackson... Read more...

Terri appeared on the "Nobody Told Me!" podcast, streamed via Apple Podcasts, to discuss her struggles with bipolar disorder. Read more...

Terri's Psychology Today column is now live Read more...

Modern Madness is not just a psychological roller coaster; it's a story of determination, self-efficacy, and hope. A great read for anyone grappling with bipolar illness and a must-read for anyone who loves someone with bipolar illness.

I heartfully recommend Terri Cheney's smart and eloquent book Modern Madness to anyone who has the disorder, has a friend or relative who has it--or just wants to know about this extraordinarily common challenge. Terri is a compassionate and engaging writer as well as an important truth teller.

In Modern Madness, Terri Cheney does something much more than simply reveal the struggles and challenges of those who have bipolar--she provides a menu of concrete, actionable steps that both those with bipolar and their family and friends can take to manage the inevitable ups and downs of this disease together. She aptly depicts the ways in which suicidal thoughts can silently stalk sufferers, and she rages passionately against us accepting the alarming acceleration in the number of suicides in America. This is a moving and insightful book that will make a meaningful difference.

Terri joined Rachel Steinman on her "Dear Family" podcast to talk about the book and living with bipolar disorder. Read more...

Terrifically real. Cheney opens a window to the reality of living with bipolar and gives us hope. Like with her first book Manic, I often felt I was peeping into Cheney's soul when reading the book. It's hard to watch, but impossible to look away.

This book is for everyone: people struggling with mental illness, their family and friends, and all those on the front lines of the U.S. mental health crisis. To be truly effective, today's advocates need a better vocabulary that captures what it means to live with mental illness, to struggle, to survive, and to take ownership of one's life. Modern Madness provides that unique vocabulary by illuminating something that touches all of us.

Betches included MODERN MADNESS by Terri Cheney in their fall reading list: "It's gripping, shocking, at times funny, and all-around real." Read more...

Author's essay about handling the isolation of the lockdown: "What I've Learned About Managing Eternity" ... Read more...

A lawyer and mental health advocate describes recent skirmishes in her decades long battle with bipolar disorder and offers advice on managing the condition. Cheney offers 65 swiftly moving essays that suggest the rapid cycling through moods that her disorder causes.

...this important and timely book. Modern Madness should be required reading for anyone impacted by mental health matters.

excerpt: From her first time taking Prozac to hiding depressive episodes at work: A candid depiction of a former entertainment lawyer's ongoing struggle with bipolar disorder... Read more...

I've read dozens of books and articles while researching my documentary about bipolar disorder, "Of Two Minds." Nothing illustrates the humanity of someone living with a mental illness like Terri's stories -- all told with warmth, humor, exquisite language, and unwavering honesty.