Electroboy

November 12, 2001
Personal accounts of mental illness can provide insight into the mind's complexities not only for the public but for specialists seeking better treatments for their patients. Freud's theory of paranoia, for example, was richly informed by his reading of Dr. Daniel Paul Schreber's Memoirs of My Nervous Illness. But in Behrman's account, it's unclear whether the author's descriptions of his psychological struggles are intended to clarify his experience of illness or to exploit the sensationalistic aspects of his manic depression (drug binges, sexual escapades and treatment with electroshock therapy) for fun and profit. The crux of Behrman's narrative involves his work as the publicist for pop artist Mark Kostabi. After helping Kostabi achieve fame, Behrman, along with an artist in Kostabi's studio, conspired to make and sell "fake" Kostabis—an endeavor that culminated in the author's arrest and conviction for conspiracy to defraud. Although Behrman never discusses the relationship between his crime and his mental illness, the reader can deduce that the fraud was tied to his long history of deeds demonstrating tension between a desire to be loved and a desire to be guilty and punished (Behrman also worked as a prostitute and amassed significant debts). His prose suffers from an abundance of clinical editorializations and attention to the superficial, like brands of clothing and beer. This last offense gives the text its exhibitionistic, gossip-column style, which muffles the obviously tortuous aspects of the author's bouts with manic euphoria and paralytic depression. The genuine and compelling aspects of Behrman's disorder become subservient to the unfortunate but undeniable pleasures of schadenfreude. Agent, Suzanne Gluck.

December 1, 2001
Behrman here adds to the crowded genre of mental illness autobiography, which is inhabited by so many fine titles (including Andrew Solomon's An Atlas of Depression, which just won a National Book Award) that new entries must provide a different perspective or superior writing to merit a place on library shelves. Presumably, what is novel here is Behrman's focus on the manic aspect of bipolar disorder and on electroshock therapy. Behrman's tale of an out-of-control life of art forgery, sexual promiscuity, drug and alcohol abuse, and eventual incarceration is told in a straightforward and forthright fashion, if a bit repetitiously. Throughout the saga, he seems to have unlimited funds, even when living on disability benefits, so clearly he has more resources than the average patient. He also doesn't discuss his depressions in much detail, so the picture seems somewhat one-sided. Kay Redfield Jamison's An Unquiet Mind (LJ 10/1/95) remains both the best-written and the most informative autobiography available on manic depression, while Martha Manning's Undercurrents: A Life Beneath the Surface (HarperSanFrancisco: HarperCollins, 1996) is an informative, and even amusing, account of her electroshock treatments for depression. These titles are a better bet for small libraries; Behrman's book is recommended as an added title for larger public libraries. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 10/1/01.] Mary Ann Hughes, Neill P.L., Pullman, WA

Copyright 2001 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2001
\deflang1033\pard\plain\f3\fs24 Manic depression, or bipolar disorder, is commonly characterized by hyperactive highs and extreme lows, the latter sometimes leading to suicide. Behrman's hyperkinetic activity was clearly self-destructive, but since he lived and worked in New York, he was able to hide his disease within the frantic pace of the upscale yuppie life in the big city. His fast-lane behavior included a brief stint with prostitution and other promiscuous sexual activity--risky in the 1980s--as well as incessant use of cocaine, experience with sleeplessness, and wild overspending on extravagant items. When he became an art dealer for an oddball painter who never really painted but only signed the work of others, Behrman seemed determined to bring about his own destruction. He entered into a forgery deal, but he was caught and convicted. How that brought about both his salvation and an end to his buoyant lifestyle is a raw but excellent testament of a person mentally and totally out of control. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2001, American Library Association.)