Foreword: The eight ball -- Part I. The weather -- The year of the four emperors -- Marlon -- Break -- Part II. Theories of the foms -- Titration diary -- Aslyum -- Insight -- Part III. Disability studies -- The lunatic fringe -- Art therapy -- But it is embarrassing -- Part IV. Appalling strangeness -- Mullin -- Ordinary time -- Ghost stories -- Acknowledgments

Emmett Rensin shares a portrait of what it's like to live with schizoaffective disorder of the bipolar type as well as a critique of America's mental health culture. Going beyond pure memoir, Rensin reflects on the uncertain "science" of diagnosis, the nature of art about and by the insane, political activism, and the history of madness, from the asylum to the academy