A "Washington Post "Best Book of 2012 Named one of the best books of the year by "East Bay Express" Named Best Graphic Novel of Fall 2012 by "Time" "Brutally honest and deeply moving, the book is by turns dark, mordant, and hilarious. One of this year's best American memoirs." --"Philadelphia Inquirer " "Forney's exhilarating and enlightening autobiographical portrait of her bipolar disorder (otherwise known as manic depression), takes the reader on an emotional rollercoaster.... Her clear and thoughtful art provides a powerful, effective and brilliant illumination of this unforgettable adventure." --"Miami"" Herald" "Ellen Forney's memoir of her bipolar diagnosis and long pharmacopic trek toward balance is painfully honest and joyously exuberant. Her drawings evoke the neuron-crackling high of mania and the schematic bleakness of depression with deft immediacy. Forney is at the height of her powers as she explores the tenuous line between mood disorders and creativity itself." --"Alison Bechdel, author of Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic" "Dense with intellectual and emotional power, Forney's book is a treasure--as a memoir, as an artwork, and as a beautifully conceived and executed commentary on both mental experience and the creative life. With wit, humor, a wicked sense of the absurd, and eloquent insight into the beauty that shines through the mercurial life of the mind, this graphic memoir explores its subject with a particular precision and power. Forney should be read." --Marya Hornbacher, author of "Madness: A Bipolar Life" "Ellen's work has always been hilarious and sharp, but "Marbles" has an emotional resonance that shows new depth as an artist and a writer. This is an extremely personal, brave, and rewarding book." --Dan Savage, editor of "It Gets Better" and author of "The Kid " "I have always admired Ellen Forney's humor

Ellen Forney was diagnosed with bipolar disorder shortly before her thirtieth birthday. A lifelong cartoonist, she collaborated with Sherman Alexie on National Book Award-winning "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, "and created Eisner Award-nominated comic books "I Love Led Zeppelin" and "Monkey Food: The Complete "I Was Seven in '75" Collection. "She teaches comics courses at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Washington.