Keen On

A new book by the acclaimed neuroscientist Lisa Genova is always a big event. Genova, best known for her best-selling 2007 novel, Still Alice, has a new novel out this week, More or Less Maddy, which follows a 20-year-old aspiring stand-up comedian who is diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The protagonist, Maddy, grows up in affluent suburban Connecticut with a father who disappeared when she was young, leaving mysterious boats stranded on their front lawn – a hint at his own undiagnosed bipolar disorder. In our conversation, Genova emphasizes the importance of accurate representation in her fiction, having conducted extensive research with psychiatrists, psychologists, and people living with bipolar disorder. She explains that bipolar disorder affects about 2% of the general population and has a genetic component, with children of bipolar parents having a 10% chance of inheriting the condition. Our conversation explores how bipolar disorder manifests through episodes of mania and depression, with Genova notin