I found Jacki Lyden's book about her life with her bi-polar mother very dissapointing. I must give credit where credit is due, Ms. Lyden has a wonderful writing style and appears to have led a fascinating life, but I finished the book with a strong sense of dissapointment. Ms. Lyden's story did not answer the questions I had about her feelings about the real possibility that she could fall prey to the genetic disease that her mother suffered from. Nor did she leave the reader with any sense of sympathy for her. I felt that she portrayed herself as a martyred character who had an inflated sense of self. The callous description of Ms. Lyden's abortion and her endless trivial details about her "rodeo job" caused me to dislike the book even more. I had high expectations for this book, but I was left feeling unfulfilled.

Jacki Lyden's book was touching and I found myself alternately laughing and feeling empathy for her, her mother and her sisters. There were, however, times when I couldn't follow her logic of including certain things in the book. But all in all it was an entertaining, if at times somber, story of the joy and sadness of living with someone who is bi-polar and the things you must sometimes do to keep your own sanity intact.

Jacki Lyden's poignant memoir describes the turmoil in her life as the daughter of a bipolar mother. Some of the things that her mother does are quite humorous; but apathy makes you mortified - when you think of your own mother and how you would be torn between loving her and deserting her. I just finished this book and it was one of the best dealing with mental orders that I have ever experienced.