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  • Published: 26 May 2016
  • ISBN: 9780241972052
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 208

Tristimania

A Diary Of Manic Depression




A stark, lyrical memoir of the steep descent into madness, and the slow and painful recovery that follows

'The sky was going to fall through the sea, the clouds would smash on impact like glass, and the great pale sheet of a dead white sky, motionless, frozen and broken, would lie noiseless at the bottom of the ocean...'

In 2013, while completing work on her last book, Kith, Jay Griffiths suffered a devastating year-long episode of hypomania. Tristimania is the extraordinary, lyrical, brave and painfully honest account of that year. Lost in the depths of her illness, Jay eventually decided to walk the Camino de Santiago - undertaking this ancient pilgrimmage in her fragile condition despite medical advice against it - determined to find a kind of cure for her torment.

  • Published: 26 May 2016
  • ISBN: 9780241972052
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 208

About the author

Jay Griffiths

Jay Griffiths' writing has appeared in the London Review of Books, the Guardian, the Observer, The Ecologist and Resurgence magazine, of which she is an associate editor.

Also by Jay Griffiths

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Praise for Tristimania

A glimpse of madness from inside the eye of the storm...

Observer

Griffiths' fearless, untamed writing style is equal in measure to Kahlo's brushstrokes... utterly original.

Northern Rivers Echo

If bravery itself could write, it would write like she does.

John Berger

Jay Griffiths' courage and energy are formidable, but so is her sheer intelligence and literary flair. Her work isn't just good - it's necessary.

Phillip Pullman

Jay Griffiths is one of the most perceptive and lyrical writers working today...Tristimania [is] elegant, inspiring, a triumph in every sense. This is a book that gives us all an uncompromised and hard-earned sense of hope.

New Statesman, Books of the Year

Publisher's description. A stark and lyrical memoir of the steep descent into madness and the slow, agonizing recovery that follows. In 2013, Jay Griffiths suffered a devastating year-long episode of hypomania and extreme depression. Tristimania is the extraordinary, brave and painfully honest account of that year.

Penguin