Summary of Brilliant Madness

Brilliant Madness: Living with Manic Depressive Illness is Paul Baumbach’s story of his mother’s struggle with bipolar disorder -- and its impacts on her life and the lives of her friends and family. It is an intimate and no-holds-barred account of a woman's descent into madness, her valiant efforts to gain control over a disease that had become the central force of her life, and the family’s struggle to rise above peer pressure to find the courage to stand up for their own. By exploring the effects of this powerful, complex illness on both her mother and her family, Baumbach sheds a much-needed light on what it’s like to live with bipolar disorder, offering insights to both those who suffer and those who are close to them.