The author of A Country Called Childhood delivers “a glimpse of madness from inside the eye of the storm” (The Guardian).
Tristimania is a stark and lyrical account of the psyche in crisis. It tells the story of a devastating year-long episode of manic depression, culminating in a long solo pilgrimage across Spain. The book is rare in recording the experience of mania and shows how the condition is at once terrifying and also profoundly creative, both tricking and treating the psyche. In exploring its literary influence, Griffiths looks at Shakespeare’s work, and examines the Trickster role, tracing its mercuriality through the character of Mercury. An intimate, raw journey, the book illuminates something of the universal human spirit.
“Her book—which recounts a bruising year of being held captive by bipolar disorder . . . is an education in the history, mythology and poetics of madness, in all its wildness and glaring neon. Griffiths is a high-wire writer who performs the difficult trick of taking you into the depths of her madness while managing to remain a completely reliable guide . . . This is self-exposure of a higher order.” —The New Statesmen
“Art and madness have always shadowed each other. Tristimania traces the shadow to its source and watches as it grows long. This is one of the bravest books I’ve read in a long time.” —Paul Kingsnorth, Man Booker Prize finalist and author of The Wake
“A book of terrible beauty: a dazzling testament to the moral and literary power of brokenness.” —Charles Foster, author of Being a Beast

Jay Griffiths