Madness and genius are often said to be close bedfellows, although the link between the two is little understood.Chris Joseph has known both extremes, and in Manicdotes: There’s Madness in His
Method, he lays bare his struggle with bi-polar disorder and the condition’s pendulum-like swing between creative dynamism and dark despair.After walking out of university and briefly dabbling
with life as a Benedictine monk and nightclub bouncer, Chris went to work at a dilapidated North East iron foundry where he lost his right arm in a horrific industrial accident.The accident was
the springboard to a new career in the world of advertising - and the trigger for the mental illness which was to blight his life.Having established his own award-winning agency - renowned for
its off-the-wall creative thinking - Chris also used his considerable creative skills to publicise and settle High Court copyright and banking disputes with major corporations, most notably
Barclays Bank.Manicdotes: There’s Madness in His Method is a graphic, moving and frequently hilarious account of his life as a manic depressive, the highs which drove the creation of
multi-million pound advertising campaigns giving way to bouts of deep depression and enforced hospitalisation.The stories can be read together or in isolation - they tell the tale of an
extraordinary man whose struggle to overcome physical and mental obstacles will be an inspiration to anyone facing the stigma of mental illness.
