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Nothing General About It

How Love (and Lithium) Saved Me On and Off General Hospital

Audiobook (Includes supplementary content)
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

""This shocking true story is General Hospital on anabolic steroids."" — Mehmet Oz, M.D., Emmy Award-winning host of The Dr. Oz Show

The Emmy Award-winning star of General Hospital chronicles his astonishing and emotional life journey in this powerful memoir—an inspiring story of success, show business, and family, and his struggle with mental illness.
Maurice Benard has been blessed with family, fame, and a successful career. For twenty-five years, he has played one of the most well-known characters on daytime television: General Hospital's Michael "Sonny" Corinthos, Jr. In his life outside the screen, he is a loving husband and the father of four. But his path has not been without hardship. When he was only twenty, Maurice was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

In Nothing General About It, Maurice looks back to his youth in a small town and his tenuous relationship with his father. He describes how his bipolar disorder began to surface in childhood, how he struggled to understand the jolting mood swings he experienced, and how a doctor finally saved his life. For years Maurice was relentless in his goal to be a successful actor. But even after he "made it," he still grappled with terrifying lows, breakdowns, and setbacks, all while trying desperately to maintain his relationship with his wife, who endured his violent, unpredictable episodes. Maurice holds nothing back as he bravely talks about what it was like to be medicated and institutionalized, and of how he learned to manage his manic episodes while on the set of GH.

Nothing General About It is also an incredible love story about an enduring marriage that demonstrates what those vows—for better, for worse, in sickness and in health—truly mean. Maurice also pays tribute to the community that has been there for him through thick and thin, and ruminates on the importance of both inherited and created family.

A shocking, riveting, and utterly candid memoir of love, adversity, and ultimately hope, Nothing General About It offers insights and advice for everyone trying to cope with mental illness, and is a motivational story that offers lessons in perseverance—of the importance of believing in and fighting for yourself through the darkest times.

Supplemental Enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

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    • Library Journal

      March 1, 2020

      At 22, Benard was in a psychiatric ward coping with delusions, hallucinations, and uncontrolled aggression, but just two years later, he made his soap opera debut on All My Children. In this debut memoir, coauthored by screenwriter Black, the actor revisits his troubled childhood, where youthful indiscretions and physical abuse from his father escalated as his mental illness went untreated, leading to his institutionalization. As the subtitle suggests, being diagnosed with bipolar disorder and receiving treatment, coupled with support from friends and family, transformed his life. Since then he's portrayed Desi Arnaz and John Gotti, though he's best known as General Hospital's Sonny Corinthos, a role he's played for more than 25 years. Despite his on-screen success, Benard exhibits more pride in his work as a spokesperson for bipolar awareness. His depiction of the disorder is unflinching--an incident where he threatened to kill his then-pregnant wife, Paula, is especially harrowing. Benard's struggles with mental illness have been incorporated into the show, and he reveals how some of his favorite story lines have also been the most triggering. VERDICT Benard's honest work is realistic yet inspiring. Soap opera fans will relish the behind-the-scenes insight, but overall this will resonate with anyone attempting to overcome life's hurdles. [See Prepub Alert, 9/30/19.]--Terry Bosky, Madison, WI

      Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Booklist

      April 1, 2020
      Emmy Award-winner Benard, aka the manic-depressive strip-club boss, Sonny, on General Hospital, lived a soap opera-worthy life off set, too. Born Mauricio Jose Morales to Nicaraguan and Salvadorian parents, he changed his name to seem Italian. Genetically blessed as he seemed to be in the looks department (he won contests like Most Watchable Man ), he struggled with bipolar disorder. He took lithium, felt better, then, unfortunately, went off it. He heard voices and saw visions. Sadly for his then girlfriend (now longtime and beloved wife, and a cancer survivor), he was quite a ladies' man, and, early in his career, he struggled with alcohol, although anxiety and depression were his worst afflictions. Readers will revel in the happily-ever-after ending, as Benard raves about his healthy wife and great kids. Last year his oldest, Cailey, became the first person in his family to graduate from college. Benard now meditates, lives in the moment, and feels blessed. An intriguing read for soap fans and an uplifting read for anyone struggling with mental illness.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

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