January 2025

I have been a long-time fan of Lisa Genova’s work. In fact, her previous novels --- STILL ALICE, LEFT NEGLECTED, LOVE ANTHONY, INSIDE THE O'BRIENS and EVERY NOTE PLAYED --- were Bets On selections. Reading them, I have learned about early-onset Alzheimer’s, traumatic brain injury, autism, Huntington’s disease and ALS.

In MORE OR LESS MADDY, Lisa takes us inside the world of Maddy Banks, who seems to have normal issues for a college student. But when they escalate, she finds herself in a deeply depressed and dark state, barely making her way through the day. A quick visit to the university’s health facility gets her a prescription for an antidepressant, and all is well for a while.

Maddy comes back to the world and is participating. She’s going to class and working out. She’s on a roll. But what is really beginning to manifest is her manic state, where sleep does not matter. At the same time, she decides that she would like to work in stand-up comedy. Though she has no experience, she wants to get herself out there as she feels she has a lot to share. Oh, and at the same time, she is obsessed with Taylor Swift to the point where she thinks that she and Taylor have a secret bond. Readers see how all of this can go off the rails. And sure enough, she crashes. Badly.

Treatment is sought, and through Maddy’s story, we learn that there is no easy way to work through mania and depression. A diagnosis of bipolar disorder is given. But there’s no snap cure. Meds must be titrated. Time in a psychiatric facility, not college, becomes the order of the day as Maddy needs to see what will work best for her. At the same time, she wants independence from her “perfect mother” and yearns to be a regular twentysomething. The battles within her and outside her are played through, and by the end we see a path forward for her.

Lisa once again brings humanity to something that usually appears as a label. There are millions of Maddys out there. MORE OR LESS MADDY gives us a chance to see life through their eyes and perhaps be less judgmental. For much more about the book, be sure to watch or listen to my interview with Lisa.