More or Less Maddy, Lisa Genova
More or Less Maddy, Lisa Genova
List: $25.99 | Sale: $18.20
Club: $12.99

More or Less Maddy

Author: Lisa Genova

Narrator: Tessa Albertson

Unabridged: 9 hr 47 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/14/2025


Synopsis

**National Bestseller**

A “riveting page-turner” (Jean Kwok, New York Times bestselling author of Searching for Sylvie Lee) about a young woman diagnosed with bipolar disorder who rejects the stability and approval found in a traditionally “normal” life for a career in stand-up comedy.

Maddy Banks is just like any other stressed-out freshman at NYU. Between schoolwork, exams, navigating life in the city, and a recent breakup, it’s normal to be feeling overwhelmed. It doesn’t help that she’s always felt like the odd one out in her picture-perfect Connecticut family. But Maddy’s latest low is devastatingly low, convincing her to go on an antidepressant. She begins to feel good, dazzling good in fact, and she soon spirals high into a wild and terrifying mania that culminates in a diagnosis of bipolar disorder.

As she struggles to find her way in this new reality, navigating the complex effects bipolar has on her identity, her relationships, and her life dream, Maddy will have to figure out how to manage being both too much and not enough.

With her signature “deep empathy and insight” (Booklist), Harvard-trained neuroscientist and New York Times bestselling author Lisa Genova has crafted an “affecting, harrowing, beautiful, and enlightening” (Shelf Awareness) novel that makes complicated mental health issues accessible and human. More or Less Maddy is destined to become another classic like Still Alice.

About Lisa Genova

Acclaimed as the Oliver Sacks of fiction and the Michael Crichton of brain science, Lisa Genova is the New York Times bestselling author of Still AliceLeft NeglectedLove AnthonyInside the O’Briens, and Remember: The Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting. Still Alice was adapted into an Oscar–winning film starring Julianne Moore, Alec Baldwin, and Kristen Stewart. Lisa graduated valedictorian from Bates College with a degree in biopsychology and holds a PhD in neuroscience from Harvard University. She is featured in the documentary films To Not Fade Away and Have You Heard About Greg. Her TED talks on Alzheimer’s disease and memory have been viewed over eleven million times.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Nilufer on March 05, 2025

As 2025 approaches, I’ve decided to implement a new grading system to distinguish exceptional five-star reads from others. Some books are so mind-blowing they deserve a special ten-star rating and a prominent spot in your personal library to revisit time and again. Lisa Genova’s More or Less Maddy i......more

Goodreads review by JanB on March 12, 2025

Lisa Genova, a neuroscientist whose mission is to write compelling fiction that brings understanding and empathy for the diseases she writes about, has won many well-deserved awards for her efforts. In this book, she provides a window into the world of bipolar disorder. Marialyce and I read this and......more

Goodreads review by Lindsay L on February 09, 2025

5 INCREDIBLE stars! All Time Favourites List! 🏆 Bipolar disorder. A mental health illness that carries a lot of stigma, fear and judgement. Lisa Genova introduces us to an unforgettable young woman named Maddy who is just starting her life in college. Through Maddy’s endearing character, we experienc......more

Goodreads review by Canadian Jen on March 19, 2025

More or less...my thoughts. Genova takes on an exploratory story deep into mental illness and gives us front row seats to witness it. Maddy is a young adult. One day, she’s fine or at least holding it together. The next, she is unravelling and cutting to soothe the constant unease. Then a manic episod......more

Goodreads review by Nina (ninjasbooks) on February 25, 2025

With beautiful prose, a deep understand of the human mind and intelligence Genova had written another five star book. Having bipolar myself I felt so understood and hopeful after reading it. It does not minimize the suffering we experience or the hurt it can cause for families and friends, and it sh......more


Quotes

"Narrator Tessa Albertson captures the turmoil experienced by Maddy, a college student who is grappling with a recent diagnosis of bipolar disorder. Albertson's youthful timbre and expressive intonation perfectly convey Maddy’s myriad symptoms, which include obsessional thinking and self-harm by cutting. Albertson's varied pacing helps listeners sense Maddy's intense discomfort and confusion. Secondary characters, including Maddy's concerned mother and sister, as well as her sympathetic friends, Sophia and Simone, are presented with nuance and depth. While some listeners may find a subplot involving Maddy's foray into stand-up comedy distracting, the important topic of bipolar disorder is handled with sensitivity and clarity by the dynamic pairing of neuroscientist Genova's perceptive writing and Albertson's thoughtful performance."