Found this today….  I don’t think the book is published yet…

Hypomanic synopsis

Hypomanic is one person’s vivid account of how they became aware of the existence of Hypomania through excessive study & the experimentation of recreational drugs inside a hedonistic orientated work life balance. As with many misery memoirs, the protagonist has to be destroyed before finding redemption and therefore unveiling the insights to successfully overcoming the adversity. In this case, which is pre-diagnosis of bipolar by almost eighteen months, the book will demonstrate the full anatomy of a nervous breakdown from a holistic point of view and across a wide range of issues. It is written in the first person as a diary account of what happened to the author age 22 while at University and why he thinks it happened, looking back at 1995, fifteen years post event and with a diagnosis of bipolar. There are also detailed accounts of what roles close friends and family members played during the downfall and subsequent comeback of the main character. It is not a self help book per se, it belongs among the story section because this book enthrals as much as it educates. It is a message to healthy young people with hedonistic outlooks, their friends and their families. It is a classic clinical scenario of exactly what happens to everyone involved with a stress induced Hypomanic episode and therefore how to avoid the experience before it happens or prepare for coping with it, if a diagnosis of bipolar has already occurred.

With my good friend Mick Reeves, I’m off to see The Dresser, a play by Ronald Harwood, produced by Skylight Productions.

Cast: Alf McCarthy, Conor Dwane, Joy Buckle, David Coon.

I remember Tom Courtney (& maybe Albert Finney, but that might have been the film of the play) getting wonderful reviews for this play when it ran on Shaftesbury Avenue in London for ages - while I was a bus conductor.

I’m excited.  I’ll learn something about how to make a play tick.

Yesterday I was interviewed by Alanna Gallagher who’s freelance and writing a piece for The Irish Times about the Spa business.

Did I rabbit on a bit?

It’ll be in the travel supplement soon, I think.

 

A 2008 review of what looks like a good book for me to take in…

Is there anyone reading this who is interested in Walt Whitman and/or the second half of 19th century in USA?

The music, the food, the cities, the land, the poetry, the politics, the writing…  The visit of Oscar Wilde to Whitman… ?

Reviews on Amazon.com:

When I was young, I was told that Walt Whitman was a marvelous poet. I read some
parts of Leaves of Grass but I was not impressed. Now, when I am old,I have
recently met a young poet who thinks highly of Whitman as the Father of
Modern American Poetry. Therefore, I decided to try him again.
I bought a copy of Leaves of Grass with an introduction by Justin Kaplan.
First I read Kaplan’s introduction; then I read Leaves of Grass four times.
After the second reading, I finally ‘got it’. Then I wanted to learn more
about Whitman so I sent for Kaplan’s biography of Whitman.
I found this biography answered many questions I had about Whitman’s life.
Kaplan’s writing is very accessible and extremely informative. He cites
contemporary sources for facts about Whitman’s life. I would recommend
this book highly to anyone who wants to know more about Walt Whitman.

 

There isn’t much by way of analysis of the poems, but there is a trove of information about Whitman the poet and enigmatic man.