{"product_id":"9781662603853","title":"The Unbalancing Act","description":"\u003ctable\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthor\/Contributor(s):\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"\"\u003ePierantozzi, Alcide; Lettieri, Antonella\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eAstra House\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDate:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e5\/4\/2027\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBinding:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"\"\u003eHardcover\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCondition:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"\"\u003eNEW\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/tbody\u003e\u003c\/table\u003e\u003cb\u003eIn the vein of David Foster Wallace, praised by Vincenzo Latronico (think \u003ci\u003ePerfection\u003c\/i\u003e, but nonfiction), \u003ci\u003eThe Unbalancing Act \u003c\/i\u003eis an incisive exploration of male identity, mental illness, queerness, and creativity.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlcide is in his forties. He still sometimes sleeps in his mother’s bed. He takes seven pills a day—five in the morning, two after dinner—medication that allows him to remain \"a lucid, alert and cooperative patient with fluid speech.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom his exile in a small town in Abruzzo, where nothing ever seems to change, Alcide recounts the grey monotony of his days: the hours spent at the library attempting to write, or exhausting himself at the gym, trying to regain in muscle what he has lost in mental lucidity. Above all, he describes what happens when his mental equilibrium skews off balance: the onset of paranoia, the doubled perception, the way stillness is never truly still, because that is when thoughts surge in. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Unbalancing Act \u003c\/i\u003eis a harrowing, gut-wrenching deep dive into the everyday realities of severe mental illness, replete with startlingly fresh images and compelling reflections on the divide between mind and body, and what it means to inhabit a brain that continuously balks and bucks.","brand":"Astra House","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48986624524543,"sku":"9781662603853","price":26.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/massivebookshop.com\/products\/9781662603853","provider":"MASSIVE BOOKSHOP","version":"1.0","type":"link"}